Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography

[Pages 271-272]
Richard Gordon Simmons, M. D. Richard Gordon Simmons, M. D., a distinguished citizen and physician of Roanoke, Virginia, is a member of a family whose name has been associated with the history of Maryland for many generations. His first ancestor of the name was Abraham Simmons, who came over to the then British colony with Cecil Calvert, deputy governor of Maryland for his brother, Lord Calvert, and landed at St. Mary's in the year 1669. He had four sons, Samuel, Richard, George and James, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Eleanor. Of these children, James is known to history as the owner of the famous Tanneyhill Mill, which supplied the revolutionary army with flour. He was Dr. Simmons' great-great-grandfather.
Dr. Richard Gordon Simmons was born April 4, 1865, on Carroll's Manor, Frederick county, Maryland, a son of Richard Edwin and Theresa Ann (Kinzer) Simmons, and a grandson of Major James and Rebecca (Shekel) Simmons. Richard Edwin Simmons' father, was a large and successful planter of Frederick county, and a graduate of the Landen Military Institute. Dr. Simmons received his education, first at the local schools of his native place, both public and private, and later at the Western Maryland College at Westminster, Maryland. In the year 1883, he removed to Roanoke, Virginia, to accept a clerical position in the employ of the Shenandoah Valley Railway, in which he continued for two years. During this time, however, he came into close contact with Dr. Koiner, then chief surgeon for the Shenandoah Valley & Norfolk & Western railway, and in 1885 became associated with him. The following year he entered the Jefferson Medical College, from which he graduated with the class of 1889. Immediately thereafter he returned to Roanoke and resumed his relations with Dr. Koiner, with whom he was associated for six years in the practice of surgery. In the year 1889, Dr. Simmons entered as a charter member the newly formed Roanoke Light Infantry, and later, July 18, 1893, was made an assistant surgeon and captain of the Second Virginia Infantry by Governor McKinney. This rank he held until the outbreak of the Spanish war, when he was ordered by Governor Tyler, May 8, 1898, to make an examination of the Virginia Volunteers at Richmond, and on June 2 of the same year was ordered with the Second Virginia Regiment to Jacksonville, Florida, to the Seventh Army Corps, commanded by General Fitzhugh Lee. At the same time he was appointed assistant to the chief surgeon of the Seventh Army Corps, his duties being executive and administrative. At the conclusion of the war, he was asked by Surgeon-General Sternberg to remain in the army, but declined and returned to his private practice at Roanoke. In 1899 a recruiting station for the United States army was established at Roanoke, and Dr. Simmons was appointed examining surgeon, a position which he still holds. Dr. Simmons was one of the organizers and the first commander of the George H. Bentley Camp of Spanish War Veterans, and in 1910 was elected by the State Encampment as commander of the Department of Virginia, serving in this office for one term, and now (1913) is a member of the staff of the commander-in-chief. Dr. Simmons is a member of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States. He was one of the organizers of the Roanoke Medical Society which afterwards became the Roanoke Academy of Medicine. During the time that it was the Medical Society, he served for two terms as its secretary, and since its change of name has been its vice-president. To his many professional duties was added another in the year 1910, when he was appointed coroner for the city of Roanoke, an office in which he has made such a record that he has been returned to it ever since.
Dr. Simmons married, April 30, 1900, Nina S. Sollee, a daughter of Captain Francis Sollee, of Jacksonville, Florida, an officer of the Confederate army, and of Rebecca Louise (Hopkins) Sollee, his wife. To Dr. and Mrs. Simmons have been born two children, Nina Sollee and Ann Louise Simmons. Mrs. Simmons is a prominent member of the William Watts Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. She is a communicant of the Episcopal church and attends St. John's Church of that denomination in Roanoke, in the connected charities of which she is an active worker.

[Pages 272-273]
James Massey Seegar. The opportunities and needs of the times were the influences that caused James Massey Seegar to forsake the state with whose interests his family has been long identified, always in honorable capacity, Maryland, and to contribute his share to the business activities of the Old Dominion, where he has made a worthy record and has worked credit to the states of his birth and of his adoption. As head of the firm of L. C. Clarke & Company, of Danville, he has gained a leading place in his line throughout Virginia, his business standing high among the mercantile institutions of its city. Queen Anne county, Maryland, is his birthplace and that of his father and grandfather, the latter, James Massey Seegar, having been a farmer of that county. He married a Miss Massey, whose father held the major's rank in the American army in the war of 1812 and was second in command of the troops of Queenstown when the British, attempting to force a landing, were repulsed and prevented from using that route to Baltimore. James M. Seegar was the father of six children, among them James Massey, of whom further.
James Massey Seegar, father of James M. Seegar, was born near Centerville, Queen Anne county, Maryland, in 1872. For the greater part of his life he conducted agricultural operations, a line of endeavor in which he was very successful. He married Frances Ann Hopper Emory, born in Queen Anne county, Maryland, daughter of Dr. John King Beck Emory, who died at the Seegar home near Centerville, Maryland. Dr. Emory was a medical practitioner in Elkton, Maryland. James Massey and Frances Ann Hopper (Emory) Seegar were the parents of six children, one of whom, Olivia, died aged twenty-two years. Those surviving are: Frances Kennard, residing in Baltimore, Maryland; Ella Emory, married Thomas C. Bailey, of Baltimore, a retired real estate dealer; Araminta Massey, lives unmarried in Baltimore, Maryland; Dr. John King Beck Emory, married Elizabeth Bosley, and they live in Baltimore, the parents of three children: James Massey, of whom further.
James Massey Seegar, son of James Massey and Frances Ann Hopper (Emory) Seegar, was born on a farm in Queen Anne county, Maryland, property that had originally belonged to the Emory family, and until he was nine years of age there lived, attending the Centerville schools. The fammily home being moved to Baltimore, his studies were there completed, and at the age of sixteen years he made his beginning in the business world in the employ of S. B. Sexton & Son, stove dealers of Baltimore, remaining with them for sixteen months. He then entered the office of the firm of Moritz & Keidel, wholesale hardware dealers of that city, at that time forming an association that continued for twenty-six years twenty-four of which he spent on the road in their interest. For the past seventeen years he has been a resident of Danville, for that same length of time being numbered among the merchants of that city, first as a member of the firm of L. C. Clarke & Company and for the past six years as its proprietor. The line handled by Mr. Seegar is hardware and sporting goods, including under the former light hardware, mechanics' and carpenters' tools, cutlery, and the like, and under the latter guns, ammunition, fishing tackle, kodaks and their supplies, baseball, football and tennis goods, in short, everything useful or ornamental in athletic equipment. Outside of the city trade, representatives of the house travel in Virginia and North Carolina, bringing a large jobbing trade to the home office, while a great deal of ordering is done from the outlying districts. At the present time L. C. Clarke & Company stands among the foremost in its line in the state. Mr. Seegar is a director of the Danville Chamber of Commerce, and an active worker along the lines that add to the upbuilding and welfare of his adopted city.
Mr. Seegar married, at Danville, Virginia, June 10, 1897, Annie Wright, born in Caswell county, North Carolina, daughter of William Griffin and Annie (Lea) Graves, both residents of Caswell county, North Carolina. William Griffin Graves has followed farming all of his life, and was a captain in a North Carolina regiment during the civil war. He served throughout that entire conflict, being twice wounded in action, and at the battle of Five Forks was taken prisoner and confined on Johnson's Island until the close of the war. At the time of writing (1914) he is seventy-four years of age. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Seegar: Francis Emory, born May 4, 1898, died in June, 1910; James Massey Jr., born February 17, 1902, a student in Roanoke Institute; William Graves, died aged eighteen months.

[Pages 273-275]
George Llewellyn Christian. Many men attain eminence in their chosen fields of labor; some in more than one field, but it is rarely that any man is able to so impress himself upon the life of the community as has George Llewellyn Christian, soldier, lawyer, jurist, banker, literatteur and business men. Born of sturdy Manx ancestry, he traces to Thomas Christian who came to Virginia from the Isle of Man in 1687, and founded a family in Charles City county, that as farmers, lawyers, judges, ministers, educators, physicians and business men have won distinction and been associated with the development of Virginia from colonial days to the present. Along maternal lines his descent is traced in Virginia to even an earlier day, the Graves family coming from England early in the seventeenth century.
George L. Christian is a son of Edmund Thomas and grandson of Turner Christian, both born in Charles City county, Virginia, that county having been the family seat since the first settler selected it as his residence. Turner Christian married (first) Susan Walker, (second) a Miss Fontaine, (third) Polly Dancy. His first wife bore him: Robert Walker, Susan Browne and Catherine. There was no issue by the second marriage. By his third wife he had: William Browne, John Douglas, Turner, Lily Ann, Mary, Henry Spotswood, Llewellyn A., Benjamin, George W., Edmund Thomas, James Doswell and Thaddeus W. Turner Christian was a Whig in politics, and an Episcopalian in religion.
Edmund Thomas Christian was born in Charles City county, and there passed his life. He was clerk of the courts of Charles City county, a member of the Methodist Protestant church, and politically an "Old Line Whig." He married, in 1838, Tabitha Rebecca Graves, daughter of Edmund V. and Mary (Southall) Graves, all of Charles City county. Children of Edmund T. Christian: Edmund Turner, George Llewellyn, of whom further; Richard Langhorne, John Douglas, Margaret Ann, Elizabeth Armistead, Robert Seymour and Benjamin Thomas.
George Llewellen Christian was born at Balfours, Charles City county, Virginia, April 13, 1841. He obtained his classical education at the Taylorsville and Northwood academies, both located in Charles City county, and in 1861, with all the ardor of his youth and race, he espoused the cause of his native state, enlisting in the Second Company, Richmond Howitzers, First Virginia Artillery, as a private. His company was one of the hard fighting organizations of that hard fought, grand Army of Northern Virginia, and in all its battles Sergeant Christian participated until May 12, 1864. On that day, at the great battle of Spottsylvania Court House, in the "Bloody Angle," he was badly wounded, losing one foot entirely and the heel of the other. This closed his military career, but he left behind him an untarnished record as a good soldier. Carrying this tangible evidence of his valor in actual warfare, Col. m began a fresh battle of life, entering the law department of the University of Virginia, and prosecuting vigorously the study of law under that great teacher, John B. Minor. He was admitted to the Richmond bar in 1867 and at once began the practice in that city. That year, 1867, may be taken as the beginning of his career as a professional and business man in Richmond, which covers a period of half a century, which it is hoped is by no means terminated. He was admitted in due season to the bars of the state and Federal courts of the district, and for eleven years, 1867-1878, he was successfully engaged in and firmly established a lucrative practice in the various courts. From 1874 to 1878 he was a member and president of the common council of the city of Richmond, and in the latter year was elected judge of the Hustings court of Richmond. He spent five years on the bench, then in 1883 when the re-adjuster party removed all the debt paying officers, of which he was one, he resumed the practice of his profession as the senior of the firm of Christian & Christian, attorneys, and yet continues head of the well known legal firm, Christian, Gordon & Christian. In 1892 he first appeared prominently in business life, serving as president of the Chamber of Commerce from 1893-95. In 1893 he was chosen president of the National Bank of Virginia, and in 1904 president of the Virginia State Insurance Company. These responsible positions he has filled with honor; and to his wise executive ability, his legal mind and training in a great measure, is due the present high standing of these important corporations. Not alone in war, profession or business, has Judge Christian proved the versatility of his talents. In the world of literature, professional and secular, his name is well known. In connection with his partner, Frank W. Christian, he established and edited in 1884, "The Virginia Law Journal," which he continued through a series of sixteen valuable volumes. As chairman of the history committee of the Grand Camp of Virginia, United Confederate Veterans, he wrote and published several pamphlets on the causes and history of the war, which later were collected and published in permanent form in a work entitled, "The Confederate Cause and Conduct in the War between the States." He is a member of the Confederate Veterans of Virginia, and of the United Confederate Veterans, serving in both organizations on the history committee, and doing all in his power to preserve a true history of the war, to which he dedicated, as proof of his devotion and valor, three years of his life, and with his blood marked one of the great conflicts of that war. He is a member and was president of the Virginia Bar Association, and at a recent meeting read a strong paper on "Roger Brooke Taney." He is a member of and was also president of the Richmond City Bar Association. He is a Democrat in politics, uniformly supporting the candidates and principles of the party. His clubs are the Westmoreland and Commonwealth of Richmond.
Judge Christian married (first) April 21, 1869, Ida, daughter of Adolphus Morris, publisher and bookseller of Richmond, and his wife, Caroline (McCreary) Morris. He married (second) November 23, 1881, Emma Christian, born June 23, 1859, daughter of William H. and his wife, Emeline A. (Dudley) Christian, both wives were born in Richmond. Children, three by first marriage: Carrie Claudia, born January 29, 1870, died March 29, 1890; Morris Huntley, born January 2, 1872, died April 6, 1893; George Llewellyn, Jr., born December 5, 1874, now a salesman, married Bessie McDowell and has children: Robert, Junius and Morris. Children by second marriage; Stuart Grattan, born August 15, 1883, graduate of Hampden-Sidney College and the u now a successful practicing lawyer of Richmond; William B., born May 23, 1887, student of Hampden-Sidney College and the University of Virginia, now a clerk with British American Tobacco Company, and located at Pekin, China; Frank Gordon, born March 28, 1895, now a student at Hampden-Sidney College.
The chronicle of a useful, busy life touches, of course, only the chief points. Judge Christian has been identified with the best interests of his adopted city, and stands to-day high in the estimation of his fellow citizens. Honored and prosperous, with success written at every angle of his career, Judge Christian in a retrospective glance can feel naught but honest pride in what that glance reveals.

[Pages 275-276]
Arthur Richardson Smith, M. D. During the years of conflict between the states, Richmond Hospital was the scene of the professional labor of Dr. Arthur Richardson Smith, and the strain of management of that institution, where so many brave sons of the South were treated and where, alas, so many entered the great beyond, so weighted upon mind and body that he survived the war but a short time. His early life was spent in Suffolk, the capital of Nansemond county, Virginia, and his entire life until 1861 was spent amid the rural beauties of Nansemond and Norfolk counties. He was the son of Arthur and Susan (Richardson) Smith, his father having been for many years postmaster of Suffolk and a man of local importance.
Dr. Arthur R. Smith was born in Suffolk, Nansemond county, Virginia, in 1805, died in Catonsville, Baltimore county, Maryland, September 16, 1866. He grew to manhood in Suffolk, obtaining his early education in private schools and preparing for college under private tutors. He finally decided upon the medical profession and entered the medical department of the University of Virginia, which institution conferred upon him the degree of M. D. He practiced his profession at Deep Creek, a village of Norfolk county, Virginia, ten miles south of the city of Norfolk, until his removal to Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1856. During the epidemic of yellow fever in Portsmouth, he volunteered to battle with that dreaded disease, and freely risked his life for the sake of humanity, and the churches and school houses at Deep Creek were filled with patients who were placed under his charge. When war between the states broke out, Dr. Smith volunteered for service as a surgeon in the Confederate army and in that capacity served until the war ended. He was placed in charge of Richmond Hospital and there rendered service that sapped his strength and made such drafts upon his vitality that he never regained full strength. After the war ended he located in Catonsville, Maryland, a village of Baltimore county, three miles west of the city of Baltimore. There he entered into partnership with Dr. Eichelberger and continued in active practice until his death in 1866. He was a skillful physician and surgeon, ministering to a large clientele and everywhere was honored for his manly character and upright life.
Dr. Smith was a staunch Democrat; he served one term in the Virginia senate, and at all times contributed his services to his party. Being a ready and fluent speaker, he was frequently upon the stump, especially in the interest of Governor Letcher's campaigns, as his residence was their headquarters during both contests, hence their political and personal relations were very close. For his services to his party he was presented with a very handsome silver service in 1857, the same now being in the possession of his son, Herbert L. Smith. Dr. was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and a communicant of Old Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church.
Dr. Smith married (first) November 10, 1829, Anna Maria Smith, who died August 5, 1838, He married (second) May 8, 1839, Jane Ellen Herbert, born in 1811, who survived him until December 1, 1892. Children of first marriage: 1. Indiana, died December 19, 1910. 2. Virginia. 3. Edward Livingston, died December 22, 1859. 4. Anna Maria, died August 6, 1838. Children of second marriage: 5. Arthur Richardson, died of yellow fever in New Orleans, September, 1867. 6. Herbert Livingston, of whom further. 7. Robert Worthington, died August 17, 1895; married Lucretia Johnson and left children: i. Bessie, married Howell Lewis; five children: Matilda Warner, Harold C., Mary Elizabeth, Katharine Lenahan, Lucretia Worthington. ii. Mae married Commodore R. O. Bitler, United States Navy; two children: Worthington Smith and Mary Lucretia. iii. Robert Worthington Jr.. 8. Elizabeth Boughan, died December 11, 1846. 9. James Edward, died of yellow fever at New Orleans, September, 1867. 10. Jack Quarles Hewlett, died November 22, 1910; married Anna Scott and left four children: i. Mae Bruce, married Joseph Mason; children: Jack Frederick, and Catharine Bruce, deceased. ii. Arthur Herbert, married Ada Bromley; children: Grace, Eugenia, Arthur Herbert, Ann Bruce, deceased. iii. Jack Quarles, now an attorney-at-law in Baltimore; married Isabel Opie; children: Harriet and Jack Quarles. iv. Eugenia, married Dr. E. H. H. Old, surgeon in United States Navy; children: E. H. H. Jr. and Bruce Scott. 11. Annie Eugenia, residing in Norfolk with her brother, Herbert L. 12. Charles Richardson, died March 14, 1855.
Herbert Livingston Smith, son of Dr. Arthur Richardson and Jane Ellen (Herbert) Smith, was born at Deep Creek, Norfolk county, Virginia, March 4, 1842. He was educated in private school and Webster Collegiate Institute at Portsmouth, Virginia. At the age of nineteen he enlisted in the Old Dominion Guard, which was mustered into the Confederate service as Company K, Ninth Regiment Virginia Infantry, Captain Edward Kerans commanding. He served one year with the Ninth Regiment and was then transferred to the Fifteenth Virginia Cavalry, his term of service ending with the surrender at Appomattox, April 9, 1865. After the war he engaged in business as a merchandise broker, in partnership with J. Spence Reid, at Norfolk, being the first broker of that kind to transact business in the state. He continued in business until 1869, and from then until 1872 resided on his farm at Deep Creek consisting of two hundred and fifty acres. In the latter named year he returned to Norfolk as superintendent of the city water works, a position he filled for twenty years, although not continuously. He later engaged in lumbering, purchasing the standing timber and disposing of it the same way. Subsequently he erected saw mills and now converts his timber into lumber, and has an extensive business in rough and manufactured lumber, having prospered greatly. He is a member of Christ Episcopal Church, and in politics is a Democrat.
Mr. Smith married, in December, 1868, Henriette K. Vermillion. Children: 1. Arthur Richardson, married Edna Robinson. 2. Blanche L., married William Camp; children: Ellen Castleman, Mary Bonsal, deceased. 3. Herbert Livingston Jr., married Alla Ransome. 4. H. Garrett, married Donna Carter Reid.

[Pages 276-277]
William Elmore Seal, head of the Publicity Bureau of America, a man of fine attainments and varied experiences, is descended from one of the leading Virginia families. His grandfather, William Seal, was married to Mary Knox, a representative of a leading Virginia family. His father, Dr. Joseph Gardner Seal, son of William Seal, was born at Norfolk, Virginia, May 1850, died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in January, 1896. He was a physician and analytical chemist, and served in that capacity for the Federal government, in charge of making high explosives in Richmond, Virginia, and was also at one time member of the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania. He was educated at Washington and Lee College, Williamsburg, Virginia, and the Old Dominion Medical College of Richmond, Virginia. He married Martha Walker Taylor of Buckingham county, Virginia, in 1868. She was the daughter of Rev. William Harris Taylor, and died in Philadelphia in 1888.
William Elmore Seal, son of Dr. Joseph Gardner Seal, was born November 26, 1870 at "Woodlands," the family home, Buckingham county, Virginia. He received his primary education in the school adjacent to his home, and subsequently pursued an electrical course at the University of Pennsylvania, after which he turned his attention to newspaper work, in which capacity he traveled considerably over the United States and Europe. Part of this time he was correspondent and political writer for two of the leading London daily papers. He has traveled extensively in India and Africa, and on the latter continent he made a trip from the Cape of Good Hope to Cairo, and also has made a trip around the world. In addition to his regular newspaper work, Mr. Seal has written a number of articles for magazines and the Syndicate Press, among which were "A Trip to the Polar Regions" and "A Visit to Molskai," during the years 1890 and 1900. Many of his European, East Indian and African writings have been published in newspapers and magazines in this country and in Europe. His contributions to the knowledge of remote sections of the world have been extended and highly valued.
Mr. Seal married Kate W. Burruss, of Richmond, Virginia, May 12, 1903, after which he took up the study and rating of corporations, combinations of capital, their development, influence and protection. He established the Publicity Bureau of Richmond, in Richmond, Virginia, in December, 1909. Two years later, December, 1911, he established the Publicity Bureau of America in New York City, and is engaged in handling publicity, matters of public interest, for and concerning corporations and associations.

[Pages 277-278]
Alonzo Wilbur Traylor. A resident of Danville, Virginia, since 1875, Mr. Traylor as manufacturer, merchant and capitalist is one of the well-known "men of affairs" in his adopted city. He is a son of Archer William Traylor, of Chesterfield county, and a grandson of Rev. Boswell Traylor, who was born in Brunswick county, died in Campbell county, Virginia, at the great age of ninety years. He was a minister of the Baptist church, a man of piety and great force of character. He was twice married, his first wife the mother of five children including a son, Archer William, of further mention. By his second wife he had three daughters who died in girlhood.
Captain Thomas Traylor, maternal grandfather of Alonzo W. Traylor, was born in Chesterfield county, Virginia, a relative of Boswell Traylor, the paternal grandfather Captain Thomas Traylor was an officer, serving with United States troops in the war with Mexico, and a farmer, living and dying in the county of his birth, aged seventy-eight years; was married and left issue including a daughter, Elizabeth Frances.
Archer William Traylor, son of Rev. Boswell Traylor, was born in Chesterfield county, Virginia, in October, 1810, and died in 1888. He was detailed for duty at Lynchburg, Virginia, during the war 1861-1865, but on account of age took no part in active field service, his sympathies, however, with the Confederate cause prompting him to render all possible service. He was a farmer by occupation. He married Elizabeth Frances Traylor, born in Chesterfield county, Virginia, in 1818, died aged fifty-eight years, daughter of Captain Thomas Traylor. Children: 1. Marcellus J., a public school teacher in Bedford county, Virginia, for thirty years, a veteran Confederate soldier, now living in Campbell county, Virginia. 2. Ida Archer, deceased; married James A. Wood. 3. John W., a Confederate veteran cavalryman, serving under Stuart, twice wounded in battle, now a farmer of Campbell county, Virginia. 4. Mary Thomas, married Lafayette Thomas, a farmer, now residing at Morton, West Virginia. 5. Betty Merriwether, married a Mr. Bondurant and resides near Lynchburg. 6. Alonzo Wilbur, of further mention. 7. James Terrell, cattle foreman for the Norfolk & Western Railroad at Roanoke, and a farmer at Campbell county. 8. Susan J., married John J. McCarthy, of Lynchburg, Virginia.
Alonzo Wilbur Traylor, son of Archer William and Elizabeth Frances (Traylor) Traylor, was born in Bedford county, Virginia, June 15, 1851, at the paternal farm. He was taken to near Lynchburg by his parents when eight years of age, that point being the family home until after the war, when they moved into the city of Lynchburg which was the home of Alonzo W. until, after attaining his twentieth year, he located in Danville. He began working there with R. Chambers & Company, carriage manufacturers, continuing until 1887 when he engaged in business for himself as a carriage and wagon builder. He operated as A. W. Traylor & Company, his partner being T. B. Fitzgerald. He continued manufacturing vehicles very successfully for ten years, then entered the hardware business and in 1899 organized the Piedmont Hardware Company, of which he is president. This company located at No. 554 Craghead street, is strictly wholesale, handling hardware and agricultural implements, both lines being complete and comprehensive. The territory covered is in Virginia, North and South Carolina, their salesman covering this area closely. Mr. Traylor, the efficient head of this prosperous concern, is also president of the Phoenix Loan and Savings Company, a position he has held for twenty-five years, and is interested in the cotton mills and other Danville enterprises of importance. He is wise, capable executive modern and progressive, honorable and upright, highly regarded by all who know the man and his principles. Mr. Traylor is prominent in the Masonic order, belonging to lodge, chapter and commandery, was a member of the Grand Commandery of Virginia, Knights Templar, and in 1910 was elected grand commander of the state. He attends the Episcopal church of which his wife is a communicant; is a member of the Merriewold Country Club, and in politics a Democrat.
Mr. Traylor married October 15, 1885, at Williamsburg, Virginia, Virginia Elenor Southall, daughter of Tyler Southall, of Washington, D. C., at whose death she became the ward of her uncle, Travis M. Southall, of Williamsburg, a Confederate veteran of the Second Virginia Cavalry.

[Page 278]
Hugh Henry Trout, M. D. There is no profession or line of business which calls for greater self-sacrifice and more devoted attention than the medical profession, and the successful physician and surgeon is he who, through love for his fellow-men, gives his time and attention to the relief of human suffering. Dr. Hugh Henry Trout, of Roanoke, Virginia, is one of the ablest representatives of this noble calling, and it is to be hoped that the work which he has commenced so gloriously will be continued for many years.
Dr. Trout was born in Staunton, Augusta county, Virginia, June 8, 1878, and, while he has already accomplished excellent results, is still at the commencement of his career as medical records go. His early education was acquired in the public schools of Staunton City, after which he became a student at the Episcopal High School of Richmond, Virginia, and was graduated from this institution. After a complete course in the academic department of the University of Virginia, he entered the medical department of the same university and was graduated from this in the class of 1902 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He served one year as interene at the Union Protestant Infirmary, and then became the resident physician at St. Joseph's Hospital, in Richmond, Virginia. He remained there until 1905, in which year he was appointed assistant in the dispensary of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and after the experience gained there he came to Roanoke, and in the course of time established the Jefferson Surgical Hospital, it has been necessary for Dr. Trout has gained a reputation throughout the South as one of the coming men in surgery and his skill in this department is regarded with admiration by his colleagues. Since the establishment of the Jefferson Surgical Hospital, it has been necessary for Dr. Trout to erect a number of additions to the main buildings, and to add to the medical staff, which now comprises four specialists, and a large staff of general medical practitioners and trained nurses. Dr. Trout has made a specialty of surgical work, in which he has attained a degree of excellence remarkable in a man of his years. His connection with medical organizations of varied character is a large one, and among them are the following: Roanoke Academy of Medicine, Southwestern Virginia Medical Society, Virginia State Medical Association, American Chesterfield Association, Southern Association of Surgeons, American Association of Surgeons and the American Clinical Congress.
Dr. Trout married, and has a fine residence at Hollins, a beautiful suburb of Roanoke. Dr. Trout has contributed a number of articles to medical journals, which have been regarded with the highest interest by the profession. He is constantly engaged in research work along professional lines, and is devoted to his profession with his entire might.

[Pages 278-280]
Judge John Garnett Dew. The Dew family is of Maryland origin, but has resided for so many generations in Virginia that it has become entirely identified with the history and traditions of that state, and is related through many intermarriages with many of the proudest Virginian names. It is perhaps in Virginia more than in any other section of the country, that the traditions and associations of the early times when the American nation was with grim struggles getting itself born, have been preserved, and are to this day an operative influence in the formation of character.
(I) Captain Thomas Dew, the paternal grandfather of Judge John Garnett Dew, was the founder of the family in Virginia. He was himself a native of Maryland, having been born there in the closing years of the eighteenth century. He was a man of unusually enterprising character and in many ways a man of mark. As a very young man he left his native state and removed to King and Queen county, Virginia, where he made himself the owner of a valuable property, which has become the residence of the Dew family for many years, and has witnessed the birth of its heirs down to the time of the present generation. Captain Dew began his life in the new home as a farmer, but with his usual cleverness soon became the banker for all the farmers in the surrounding country, and waxed wealthy as the result of his business. He became a captain in the United States army during the war of 1812, tendering distinguished service therein, and before his death became the leading figure in the community of which he was a member. He married Lucy E. Gatewood, a native of King and Queen county, and by her had ten children, all of whom are now deceased. His eldest son, Dr. William Dew, became a very distinguished Virginian physician, and another son, Thomas R. Dew (a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work), became the president of William and Mary College, the second oldest college in the United States, the early history of which was so checkered, and for whose founding such terrible efforts and sacrifices were needed on the part of the colonists. Its charter was at last granted by the King in 1693, since which time it has been the scene of the youthful labors of many of the greatest men in American history, including such names as Thomas Jefferson, John Randolph, John Marshall, and many others among its graduates. The last of Captain Thomas Dew's children to depart this life was Benjamin Franklin Dew, the father of John Garnett Dew.
(II) Benjamin Franklin Dew, son of Captain Thomas and Lucy E. (Gatewood) Dew, was born June 8, 1820, on his father's homestead in King and Queen county, Virginia, which had come to be known as Dewsville. He was a student at William and Mary College, of which his uncle, Thomas R. Dew, was the president, and graduated from that venerable institution with the degrees of M. A. and B. L. For a time he devoted himself to the practice of the law, but ere a great while had elapsed returned to his great landed state of Dewsville, where he settled, continuing to live there for the remainder of his life. He was later offered the appointment of magistrate on the county court, which he accepted and held up to and during the years of the war between the states. He married Mary Susan Garnett, a native of King and Queen county, where she was born in the year 1821. Mrs. Dew was the daughter of Colonel Reuben M. and ——— (Pendleton) Garnett. also of King and Queen county. Colonel Garnett was a farmer all his life in his native region, and Mrs. Garnett was the daughter of Captain James Pendleton, of the Continental Artillery in the revolution. To Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Franklin Dew six children were born, all of whom are deceased with the exception of John Garnett Dew, mentioned at length below. Another of their children, Dr. J. Harvie Dew, was a prominent physician in New York City for over forty years. Mrs. Benjamin Franklin Dew died October 5, 1855, when John Garnett was but ten years of age, and two years later Mr. Dew remarried, this time to Elizabeth Quesenberry, of Caroline county, Virginia, by whom he had three children, all of whom are deceased. Mr. Dew died October 10, 1877.
(III) Judge John Garnett Dew, the second child of Benjamin Franklin and Mary Susan (Garnett) Dew, was born July 23, 1845, near the old estate of Dewsville, founded by his grandfather, Captain Thomas Dew, in King and Queen county, Virginia. He received the rudiments of his education in the local schools of King and Queen county, and then attended Dr. Gessner Harrison's School in Nelson county, until he had reached the age of fifteen years. When the civil war broke out, plunging the whole country into blood and strife, young Mr. Dew, in spite of his tender years, enlisted in the Second Company of the Independent Signal Corps. For a time he served in the Home Guards, and later in the regular army, taking part in numerous important engagements. He fought in the troops of General Beauregard's division, and was appointed by that officer himself to act as his scout, in which service he distinguished himself highly. Upon the close of war, Mr. Dew, who was still a very young man, returned to the matter of his education, and matriculated at the University of Virginia, taking the prescribed course in law at the famous law school there. From this he graduated with the class of 1867, and being admitted to the Virginia bar he began the practice of his profession in King and Queen and adjoining counties. His great abilities and unimpeachable integrity soon brought im into conspicuous notice, not only in the ranks of his professional associates, but throughout the region where he practiced, and gave him a leading position in his profession. In the year 1884 he was appointed a judge of he county court of King and Queen county, and in his conduct of his new duties added to his already brilliant reputation before the Virginia bar, that of a just judge. He continued in this post until October 15, 1900, when he resigned to accept the position of second auditor of the state of Virginia, in which office he served until March 1, 1912.
Judge Dew married, October 28, 1875, in King and Queen county, Lelia Fauntleroy, a native of that region, born November 9, 1850. Mrs. Dew was the daughter of Dr. Samuel G. and Fannie E. (Claybrook) Fauntleroy. Dr. Fauntleroy was one of the pioneer physicians of King and Queen county, his wife being a native of Middlesex county, Virginia. They are both deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Dew have been born four children, all living, as follows: 1. Mary Sue, born December 27, 1878; now in charge of the library in the John Marshall High School in Richmond, Virginia. 2. Samuel G., born September 26, 1880; is now associated with the Cameron Stove Company of Richmond. 3. B. Frank, born October 5, 1882; now associated with the Union Stores Company of Richmond. 4. Elizabeth C., born May 9, 1890; now chief long distance operator of the American Telephone Company, at Richmond.
Judge Dew and his family are members of the Baptist church, and attend the Grove Avenue Church of that denomination. They are active in the church work and support materially the numerous benevolences in connection therewith. Judge Dew is now a deacon of the congregation.

[Pages 280-281]
Major Catlett Conway Taliaferro. The estimable man, Major Catlett Conway Taliaferro, of Roanoke, Virginia, whose distinguished name we are pleased to place at the head of this article, is descended from ancestors noted for their sterling worth and their patriotism, some members of the family having figured in the revolutionary war. The qualities which made some of them among the foremost men of their time have not been lacking in their descendants.
Colonel Lawrence Hay Taliaferro, grandfather of Major Taliaferro of t his sketch, was a colonel of minute-men in the war of the revolution. His plantation was the famous "Rosehill," in Orange county, Virginia, which is still in the possession of his descendants. Major Lawrence Hay Taliaferro, son of the preceding, was graduated from the West Point Military Academy, and was an active participant in the Mexican war until discharged on account of impaired health. He married Eliza Turner, a daughter of Captain Catlett Conway Turner, of "Hayfield," Orange county, Virginia, who was a captain in the Fourth Virginia Regiment during the revolutionary war.
Major Catlett Conway Taliaferro was born in Orange county, Virginia, April 15, 1847. He was prepared for entrance to college at the private school conducted by Professor William Ball Frazer, and was then admitted to Rappahannock College, in which he had been a student one year when the civil war broke out. At the age of fifteen and a half years he ran away from college to join his two brothers, Hay Buckner and Edmund Taylor, who had already enlisted, being members of Pickett's division, Longstreet's corps, and enlisted in the Ninth Virginia Cavalry, July 18, 1861, three days before the first battle of Manassas. He was with his regiment until the battle of Front Royal, when he was detailed as courier and scout to General "Stonewall" Jackson, remaining on his staff until the death of General Jackson, when he accompanied the remains from Guinea Station to Richmond, where the body lay in state twenty-four hours, thence to Lexington for burial. Returning to his old regiment, the ninth, he was very shortly afterward ordered to report to General Robert E. lee, and by him was attached to the Thirty-ninth Battalion, which was composed of guides, scouts and couriers, and was a part of General Lee's staff. He attained the rank of major, Major Taliaferro remained here until the surrender at Appomattox, when he was selected to carry the flag of truce to the headquarters of General Grant, and he is now one of the few surviving eye-witnesses of the formal surrender of General Lee. Major Taliaferro was wounded three times during his service, first at the battle of Spottsylvania Court House (known afterwards as the Bloody Angle) the day that General R. E. Lee wanted to lead the charge to retake the works, but his troops would not allow him to do so; Colonel Walter H. Taylor, his chief of staff, led the charge and requested Mr. Taliaferro to follow him, which he did, although he was almost certain that it meant death for both of them. Colonel Taylor is living at the present time (1915) in Norfolk, Virginia, president of the Marine Bank in that city. Major Taliaferro was again wounded at the battle of Antietam, and slightly wounded at the battle of Winchester. He has in his possession his parole that he received at Appomattox.
After the war Major Taliaferro engaged in farming in Prince Edward county, Virginia, continuing for a period of eight years, and in 1888 removed to Roanoke, which has since been his place of residence. He established himself in the real estate business in association with the late Hon. W. P. Dupuy. In 1890 he was appointed land agent for the Roanoke Land and Improvement Company, which was a part of the Norfolk & Western Railway, was very successful in handling these responsibilities, and wound up its affairs in a methodical and satisfactory manner. He then entered into a partnership in the real estate line with E. W. Speed, the firm being known as Taliaferro & Speed, and continued this until 1905. In that year he returned to the employ of the Norfolk & Western Railway, as general right-of-way agent, and is holding that position at the present time. He has been very active in political affairs in behalf of the party, and for a number of years was a member of the City Executive Committee. He was appointed a director of the Southwestern State Hospital by General Fitzhugh Lee, then governor of the state, and has been reappointed by each successive governor. He is a member of the board of visitors of the Western State Hospital, Staunton; the Eastern State Hospital, Williamsburg; The Central State Hospital, Petersburg; and the Epileptic Hospital, Lynchburg, Virginia. He is a charter member and ex-commander of the William Watts Camp, Confederate Veterans, and of Osceola Lodge, Knights of Pythias. He is a charter member and elder of the Second Presbyterian Church.
Major Taliaferro married (first) October 25, 1865, Nannie T., a daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Benjamin T. Terry, of Hampden-Sidney College, and they had children: Lucy, who married Rev. Turner Ashby Wharton; Lawrence Hay, was accidentally shot at the age of seventeen years, while a student at Hampden-Sidney College, and died from lock-jaw caused by the wound; Elizabeth A. Mrs. Taliaferro died in 1903. Mr. Taliaferro married (second) in 1906, Elizabeth Meade Jones, of Petersburg, Virginia. Major Taliaferro has always been a man of strong purpose and sound judgment, and has carried forward to successful completion whatever he undertook. He has always taken an active interest in movements tending to further the development of the community in which he has resided, and has been very successful in his efforts in this direction.