Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography

[Page 406]
John Benson Jenkins. In 1885 Mr. Jenkins, then newly admitted to the Virginia bar, opened offices in the city of Norfolk and there for twenty-nine years engaged in general law practice alone. In 1914 the old sign that had never borne any name but his own came down and was replaced by a new one, Jenkins & Jenkins, his partner being his on, also John Benson Jenkins.
Southampton, a county of Southeastern Virginia, was the Jenkins family seat for many years, Wiley Winborne Jenkins, grandfather of John Benson Jenkins, being a wealthy plantation and slave owner of that county.
Charles E. Jenkins, the only son of Wiley Winborne Jenkins who married, was born in Norfolk county, Virginia, and died in 1903, after an active life as a merchant interrupted only by service in the Confederate army, from 1861 to 1865. He was educated in public schools, and began business life as a merchant, continuing until April, 1861, when he enlisted in the Confederate army, entering the signal corps. He was in active military service until a few months prior to the surrender at Appomattox, when he was captured by a detachment of Sheridan's cavalry and confined a prisoner of war at Point Lookout until July, 1865. After his release and recovery from the effects of his confinement, he located in Norfolk and was there engaged as a merchant until retirement a few years prior to his death in 1903. He was a member of the Baptist church, a Whig, later a Democrat in politics, and fraternally affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. Jenkins married, in December, 1858, Eliza, daughter of John and Dorothy (Foster) Benson, of Portsmouth, Virginia. Children: John Benson, of whom further; Annie W., married William B. Tarrant, and has children: Annie, Mary L., William B. (2).
John Benson Jenkins, only son of Charles E. and Eliza (Benson(Jenkins, was born in September, 1859. He attended public school and prepared for college in the private school taught by William A. Gault. He then entered Richmond College, later matriculating at the University of Virginia, whence he was graduated with the degree of Master of Arts. Deciding upon the profession of law he began study in the law school of the University of Virginia, but before completing the course he was called home by the illness of his father. This necessitated his assuming direction of the latter's business and prevented his obtaining his degree from the university. He did not relinquished his ambition to become a lawyer, however, but by private reading continued his legal studies. In 1885, after examination, he was admitted to the bar and at once began practice in Norfolk. He conducted general law practice in all state and Federal courts of the district for twenty-nine years, winning honorable standing at the Norfolk-Portsmouth bar and securing a large practice. In 1914 his son, John Benson (2) Jenkins, was admitted a partner, and as Jenkins & Jenkins, father and son are now practicing. Mr. Jenkins is learned in the law and to his learning adds the experience and skill gained from his more than a quarter of a century of controversial battle with the strong men of the Norfolk-Portsmouth bar. In these legal battles he has won his fair proportion of victories but whether the verdict of judge or jury was yea or nay he clung to the strictest ethics of his profession, and never sought advantage through unworthy methods. He is a member of the American Bar, the Virginia Bar and the Norfolk-Portsmouth Bar associations, and nowhere is he held in higher esteem than among his brethren of the profession. He is a member of Owen Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, the Borough Club and the Baptist church, affiliating with the Democratic party in state and national politics.
Mr. Jenkins married, in 1888, Eunice B., daughter of Coleman and Eunice (Shepherd) Wortham, of King and Queen county, Virginia. Children: 1. Coleman Wortham, born in 1889; graduate of Virginia Military Institute, class of 1909; assistant professor at alma mater and lieutenant in the United States army. 2. John Benson (2), born in 1891; a graduate of law school, University of Virginia, LL. B.; now associated in law practice with his father as junior of the law firm of Jenkins & Jenkins. 3. Charles E., born in 1893; now a student at the University of Virginia.

[Pages 406-407]
Sydney John Baker, M. D. Of English birth, parentage and ancestry, Dr. Baker has been a resident of Virginia since 1887, and of Norfolk since 1903. He is the son of Thomas M. K. Baker, of Torquay, Devonshire, England. His wife, Mary Ann (Scott) Baker, was born in Torquay, England, is now living in London, England, aged seventy-five years. Children: Clara Eliza, now the widow of George Hilborne Joliffe, residing in London; Sydney John, of whom further; Thomas Edward, M. R. C. V. S. L., died in 1908, aged forty-seven years.
Dr. Sydney John Baker, of Richmond, Virginia, was born in Torquay, England, September 16, 1863. He was educated in private English schools, entered the drug business at the age of seventeen and graduated as pharmaceutical chemist in London in September, 1885. He resided in England until twenty-three years of age, then came tot he United States. He settled in Bedford county, Virginia, and soon afterward entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, Maryland, whence he was graduated M. D., class of 1890, winning the "Lynch" medal. HE passed examination before the boards of both Pennsylvania and Virginia, but settled in Virginia, at Bedford City, May 1, 1890. He was in successful practice in that town nine years, then was four years phyusician for the Longdale Iron Company. In 1903 he located in Manchester (Richmond), where he is well established in practice at 1302 Bainbridge street. He is a member of Marshall Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, at Lynchburg, Virginia; Lynchburg Chapter, No. 10, Royal Arch Masons; Stuart Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Richmond; Richmond Academy of Medicine, Medical Society of Virginia, American Medical Association, and is a communicant of the Presbyterian church.
Dr. Baker married, in Bedford City, Virginia, June 3, 1891, Nannie Leftwich Marshall, born in that town, March 13, 1865, daughter of Thomas Henry Marshall, D. D. S., born in Charlotte, Virginia, died in Bedford City, in 1907, in his seventy-third year. For over forty years Dr. Marshall practiced his profession in Bedford City, first settling there in 18862, having been appointed by the Confederate government, and placed in charge of army dental work. He married, October 26, 1864, Mildred Hopkins. Dr. Baker has no children.

[Pages 407-408]
Harry Bennett Sanford, M. D. Son and grandson of eminent Baptist clergymen, Harry Bennett Sanford, M. D., of Richmond, Virginia, numbers among his ancestors those who have achieved distinction and rendered honorable service in lines other than ecclesiastical. In this long and honorable list may be named Samuel Gresham, member of the Virginia house of delegates, from Lancaster county, and Joseph Harvey of Westmoreland county, Virginia, from 1838 to 1842 representative of his district in the National Congress. Space would here fail to recount the deeds that are placed to the credit of the family name and that makes the sons of the line of Sanford proud to own their origin, but that patriotism is not lacking in the virtues possessed by past generations is evidenced by the military record of Rev. Robert Bailey Sanford, whose faithfulness in the bloodless battles of the Prince of Peace was as great as his valor on the shotswept fields of the civil war.
Rev. Robert Bailey Sanford, son of Rev. John Harvey Sanford, married Alberta Sharp, daughter of T. C. and Hannah F. Gresham, her father a farmer of Lancaster county, Virginia, one of their sons being Harry Bennett, of further mention.
Harry Bennett Sanford, son of Rev. Robert and Alberta Sharp (Gresham) Sanford, was born at Riverdale, Lancaster county, Virginia, September 10, 1870. After preparatory courses in the public and private schools of the county of his birth he was for three years a student of Richmond College. From the latter institution he entered the Medical College of Virginia and was awarded his M. D. at the completion of his course in 1904. Prior to establishment in his profession he engaged in general mercantile dealings, becoming a duly registered pharmacist at Ettrick, Virginia, and subsequently in Richmond, Virginia.
Since becoming a member of the medical fraternity of Richmond, Dr. Sanford has rapidly risen to responsible position therein and has become the centre of a practice wide and desirable. The succeeding years have witnessed his increasingly secure entrenchment in the favor and regard of his clientele, who, with close acquaintance, have gained a correspondingly high appreciation of his talents and abilities. He is a member of the American Medical Association, and the Academy of Medicine and Surgery. He is a member of the Grace Street Baptist Church, of Richmond, and holds membership in the Masonic order, Meridian Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Richmond. Dr. Sanford has never been active in public affairs, but, at the polls and in sympathy, has been a Democratic supporter. He is an enthusiastic motorist, belonging to the Richmond Automobile Club. Dr. Sanford is a demonstrator in obstetrics at the (Greater) Medical College of Virginia, formerly being instructor in the Medical College of Virginia.
He married at Richmond, Virginia, January 1, 1896, Louise Moore, daughter of Jacob Owen McGehee, of Prince Edward county, Virginia, a descendant of Scotch-Irish forbears and a veteran of the conflict between the states. Jacob Owen McGehee married Ann Rebecca Duncanson, of Culpeper county, Virginia, a great-great-granddaughter of Colonel James Duncanson, who served with George Washington in the French and Indian wars and later fought under that general's command in the war for independence. Children of Dr. Harry Bennett and Louise Moore (McGehee) Sanford; Harry Bennett Jr., Carrie Owen, Anne Louise and Virginia Stuart.

[Pages 408-409]
Dr. William Selden, a native of Norfolk, Virginia, came of a line of professional men. Samuel Selden, the founder of the family in Virginia, was a lawyer born in England, who, with his wife Rebecca, daughter of Sir James Yeo, a Welsh baronet, and four sons, emigrated to America in 1699. His Virginia estate, a tract of land granted to his wife, was Buckroe Plantation, in Elizabeth City county, where he was justice.
His son, John Selden, who was born in England and emigrated with his parents to Virginia, was also a lawyer, being sheriff of Lancaster county, and justice and King's attorney of Elizabeth City county. William, the son of John Selden, was educated at William and Mary College. For a few years he practiced law, but in 1770 abandoned this profession for the church, being ordained in England by the bishop of London. Returning to Virginia, the remainder of his life was spent at Hampton, where he was the last Colonial rector of St. John's Church. His son, Dr. William Boswell Selden, was educated as a physician in the city of Philadelphia and in Scotland, and settling in Norfolk, in 1798, there practiced his profession for many years. In 1802 he married Charlotte Colgate, of Maidstone, Kent, England, daughter of Robert Colgate, a university graduate and friend of William Pitt. The children of Dr. and Mrs. Selden were: Mary Ann; John; William, the subject of this sketch; Susan; Robert Colgate, who married Courtney Warner Brooke; Henry, a physician, whose widow, after his death in the yellow fever epidemic of 1855, married Baron Henry von Zollikofer; and Charles.
Dr. William Selden, the son of Dr. William Boswell Selden and Charlotte (Colgate) Selden, was born in Norfolk, Virginia, August 15, 1808. The house in which he was born had been built by his father, as a summer residence, in the previous year, as a summer residence, in the previous year, and still stands at the southwest corner of Botetourt and West Freemason streets. William Selden was educated in the schools of his native city and at the University of Virginia and studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1830. He continued advanced work in medicine in London and Paris fore several years and after returning to America began practicing in his native city. He devoted particular attention to internal diseases and enjoyed an extensive reputation as a diagnostician throughout the South. His wide experience in matters of public health, particularly in regard to yellow fever, with which he had come closely in touch in the epidemic of 1855, led to his appointment by Congress in 1878 on the commission of experts to investigate the nature and cause of that disease, but he was prevented from serving by failing health. He was for several years also a member of the town council and board of health of Norfolk. during his early career he was offered professorships in the University of Virginia and the University of Pennsylvania, but was unable to accept them.
Unfortunately Dr. Selden wrote very little, most of his productions being short articles published in medical magazines. His two best known are "The History of the Yellow Fever Epidemic in 1855 in Norfolk," and his paper on "Fractures of the Neck of the Femur;" in the latter paper he reported some of the earliest recorded cases of bony union as a result of the now recognized method of treatment.
Although deeply deploring the necessity for secession he was loyal to his state and accepted an appointment as physician in the Confederate service, serving in the hospitals at Liberty, Virginia. He was one of the founders and first president of the Norfolk Medical Society and was at one time vice-president of the Medical Association of Virginia. Dr. Selden died in Norfolk, November 7, 1887.
In 1836 Dr. Selden married Lucinda Pope Wilson, daughter of Dr. Daniel Wilson, of Louisville, Kentucky. William Boswell Selden, oldest of their nine children, was born in 1837 and graduated as a Civil Engineer from the Virginia Military Institute. At the outbreak of the civil war he was appointed first lieutenant of engineers in the Confederate army and was assigned tot he construction of the fortifications around Norfolk and later had charge of the building of the fortifications on Roanoke Island. On February 7, 18 62, the Federal army began an attack at this point. As the Confederate army was short of artillery officers, Lieutenant Selden volunteered his services and was given charge of one of the guns. For four hours he held back the Federal advance, but was finally shot by sharpshooters detailed for that purpose. Colonel Shaw, his commanding officer, wrote to Dr. Selden "from the commencement of the action to the moment of his fall he handled his gun with a skill and intrepid spirit, which enlisted the admiration of all who witnessed his conduct; for hours, calm and undaunted amid the storm of deadly missiles, he stood by his piece until at length the fatal ball was sped, which deprived you of a son, of whom you may well have been proud, and the country of a brave and patriotic soldier." The other children of Dr. and Mrs. Selden were: Henrietta Wilson, Julia Smith, Charlotte Colgate, Mary, Louisa, Thomas Wilson, Caroline and Lucy. Mary, the only one of Dr. Selden's children to marry, became the wife of Cyrus Wiley Grandy, a banker and merchant of Norfolk. Their children, of whom the first and third died in infancy, are: William Selden, Charles Rollin, Julia Selden, William Boswell Selden, Cyrus Wiley and Mary Selden.

[Pages 409-411]
General Edward West Nichols. A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, General Edward W. Nichols, in the position of superintendent of that institution, to which place he was raised after a long term of service upon the faculty, finds in his labors in the institute occupation involving not only his talents as an educator and a leader but calling upon the greatest depths of sentiment. To no educational institution does the traditional love of graduates attach more strongly than to the Virginia Military Institute, and to one of her sons the opportunity of her service is an envied privilege. So it is that as superintendent of the institute General Edward W. Nichols is enabled, more than any other, to foster and cherish, to guard and protect, the name and reputation of the school than which none stands fairer in the history of Virginia institutions, or of the country. To this end have his efforts ever been directed, with redoubled energy since his election to the superintendency, and the fruits of his service have been good.
General Edward W. Nichols is a descendant of an English family of Staffordshire, the first of his line in America having been Francis Nichols, of Connecticut. New England and New York state history contains numerous mention of those of the name whose activities in service and achievement were worthy, and in Virginia the family record is a proud one, this state having been the home of Francis N. Nichols, grandfather of General Edward W. Nichols. Francis N. Nichols married Susan, daughter of James Anderson, of Sussex county, Virginia, their son, Captain James N. Nichols, father of General Nichols. Captain James N. Nichols was a prominent merchant and business man of Petersburg Gas Company, and in that place passed a busy and useful life, venerated and esteemed by his fellows. He and his wife, Anne (Wynn) Nichols, were the parents of a number of children, one of their sons, Edward West, of whom further.
General Edward West Nichols, son of Captain James N. and Anne (Wynn) Nichols, was born in Petersburg, Virginia, June 27, 1858. He prepared for advanced studies in McCabe's University School, maintained by Captain William Gordon McCabe. From here he entered the Virginia Military Institute, and was graduated with high honors in the class of 1878, afterward taking post-graduate courses in engineering at the Institute. While connected with his alma mater as assistant professor of mathematics, from 1878 to 1881, General Nichols studied law under special instruction at Washington and Lee University and later at the University of Virginia. After his admission to the bar he began the practice of his profession. In this he did not long continue, however, abandoning his legal work to accept the chair of engineering at the Virginia Military Institute, to which he was elected in 1882 and which he filled until 1890, and in the latter year became professor of mathematics until June, 1907, when, upon the retirement of General Scott Shipp, after fifty-one years of service, he became acting superintendent, one year later being elected superintendent, his present office. General Nichols is the third superintendent who has directed the affairs of the school, the first, Major-General Francis H. Smith, whose devoted service is constantly recalled to the students of the institute by the academic building erected as a memorial building and bearing his name, and the second, General Scott Shipp, the present superintendent emeritus of the Virginia Military Institute. General Smith and General Shipp for sixty-nine years conducted the affairs of the school, and death having called the former, the honorary association of the latter with the institute that reaped the harvest of his conspicuous ability is a beautiful tribute.
General Nichols was for several years engaged in the solving of railroad engineering problems in collaboration with the inspecting engineer of the New York Central and Hudson River railroad. Later he was engaged in similar work in connection with the International Railway Congress. Although busily engaged with his duties as a professor at the Virginia Military Institute, General Nichols found time for the exhaustive preparation of two valuable additions to mathematical literature, an "Analytical Geometry," published in 1893, and a "Differential and Integral Calculus," which appeared in 1900. These works, carefully planned and admirably constructed, show well the attributes of the scholar, and in arrangement follow a most logical and natural course, a vast improvement over some of the complicated productions of past years.
General Nichols married (first) October 28, 1886, Edmonia L., daughter of Dr. Livingston Waddell, who died June 29, 1904; (second) November 14, 1905, a widow, Mrs. Evelyn (Judkin) Rust, daughter of Rev. William F. Junkin.
While to most Virginians the story of the institute is an old one, as a matter of general interest it is well to brief it here: The Virginia Military Institute was established under an act of the general assembly of Virginia, passed im March, 1839, the first corps of cadets being mustered into the service of the state November 11, 1839. This company was immediately substituted for a company of soldiers that had been maintained by the state at an annual cost of six thousand dollars to garrison the western arsenal at Lexington, in which were stored thirty thousand muskets and a large quantity of military supplies. In accordance with a plan advanced by J. T. L. Preston, a citizen of Lexington, for thirty-seven years an honored professor upon the active list and afterwards emeritus professor in the institute, in addition to the duties of an armed guard these cadets were required to pursue a course of scientific and military studies. In May, 1839, the meeting of the first board of visitors was held in Lexington, the president of the board being Colonel Claude Crozet, graduate of the Polytechnic School of France, a soldier under Napoleon in the Russian campaign of 1812, subsequently a Professor in the United States Military Academy at West Point, and at the time a citizen of Virginia. The first act of the new board was to recognize the eminent fitness of General Francis H. Smith, a distinguished graduate of West Point, and at the time professor of mathematics in Hampden-Sidney College, for the position of superintendent. Prosecuting its special ends and wisely guided, the school grew rapidly in public favor, the legislature from time to time increasing its annuity and appropriating large amounts to provide new barracks and to equip the institute, and in 1861 it was filled to capacity.
During the war between the states, cadets from the institute were repeatedly called into active service in the valley of Virginia, and on the lines around Richmond. On the 15th day of May, 1864, at Newmarket, the corps of cadets, organized as a battalion of infantry of four companies, and as a platoon of artillery, serving two three-inch rifle guns, lost over fifty killed and wounded out of an aggregate of two hundred and fifty. On June 11, 1864, the barracks, mess hall, officers' quarters, the library, containing about ten thousand volumes, and all the apparatus and instruments of the various departments of the school, were burned by order of General David Hunter, commanding the United States army, at that time operating in the valley of Virginia. In October, 1865, when the wrath of the nation had subsided and peace was restored, the institute was reopened. Buildings and equipment were rapidly restored and the school entered upon an era of prosperity that has been continuous to the present time, when, provided with the most modern appliances in all of its many departments, which are housed in specially constructed buildings, and with all provision for the health, comfort, and convenience of its students, the Virginia Military Institute stands in the front rank of similar institutions in the country.
In all the professions and vocations of life, the men trained at the Virginia Military Institute have won for themselves honorable distinction. The illustrious record of services rendered by her sons during the civil, Spanish and Philippine wars has established the reputation of the school upon an enduring foundation. Upon the roll of her academic staff are to be found the names of Stonewall Jackson, Matthew F. Maury, John M. Brooke, Crutchfield, Gilham, Massie, Madison, Blair, Washington, Williamson, Lee, Colston, Preston and Smith. The number of her matriculates is six thousand five hundred and one, of whom two thousand two hundred and fifty-one have become full graduates.
Such is the school of which General Edward W. Nichols has for the past seven years been superintendent. From the past he received a legacy of honored traditions and memories, and, observing these with a reverence born of love for the Virginia Military Institute, through his progressive spirit and his advanced educational views he has done much to render permanent the truth of the prophecy of General Robert E. Lee, written from Camp Petersburg, July 4, 1864, when that commander received news of the destruction of the institute: "I have grieved over the destruction of the Military Institute. But the good that has been done to the country cannot be destroyed, nor can its name or fame perish. It will rise stronger than before, and continue to diffuse its benefits to a grateful people. * * * Its prosperity I consider certain.

[Pages 411-412]
Samuel M. Janney. The Janneys of Virginia descend from Thomas Janney, of Styall, England, and Bucks Tennessee, Pennsylvania, born in England, 1632, died in Cheshire, England, February 12, 1697. He was a member of the Society of Friends and came to Pennsylvania with wife, Margaret, four sons and two servants in the "Endeavor," arriving in the Delaware in 1683. He was a member of the provincial council, 1684, 1685 and 1686, and again in 1691, and one of the justices of peace for Bucks county. He was a member of the Falls monthly meeting, being first of record in Bucks county, 12 mo. 6, 1683. He was a member of Philadelphia quarterly meeting, from them obtaining permission to visit England. He made his will and in 1695 returned to England, where he engaged in the work of the ministry until his death. He left children: Jacob, married and left issue; Thomas, Abel and Joseph; two children died young. From these sprang a numerous family, mostly located in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Ohio, many of them noted men. Among these may be mentioned: Thomas Janney, a lieutenant in the Continental army; Phineas Janney, the wine merchant of Alexandria, and friend of Henry Clay; his nephew, Samuel McPherson the Quaker author, historian and preacher: John Janney, who, as president of the Virginia convention, used his best endeavors to hold his state in the Union, and as delegate to the Whig convention at Harrisburg, advocated the nomination of Henry Clay for the presidency; Johns Hopkins, the founder of the university and hospital bearing his name at Baltimore; Emerson Hough, author and magazine writer; Bellamy Storer, diplomat, and Israel Gregg, captain of Fulton's first steamboat, the "Clermont."
The line of descent to Samuel M. Janney, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, is through Joseph, the youngest son, whose son Jacob settled in Loudoun county, Virginia, in 1745, an elder of the Society of Friends. A descendant, John Janney, grandfather of Samuel M., was a merchant of Alexandria, where he died. He married Marguerite Tyson, of Baltimore, a descendant of the Tyson family, early settlers of Germantown, Pennsylvania; her mother a Hopkins, of the celebrated Baltimore family. Their only child was Joseph Tyson, of whom further.
Joseph Tyson Janney was born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1832, died in 1882. He was a merchant of Alexandria for many years, owning a farm at Occoquan, Prince William county, Virginia, and there operating a gristmill. He retired to his farm after his years of mercantile life, operating farm and mill until his death. He was a member of the Society of Friends, a man of high character and highly respected. He married Edith Hunter, born in 1842, died February 7, 1913, daughter of Robert Hunter, born in Scotland, a shipbuilder of Alexandria until his death; he married Elizabeth Bryan, of Alexandria, and had a family of twelve children, one of these children, a widow, Mrs. Sophia Hammill, yet survives, living in Occoquan with her niece, Marguerite Janney. Children of Joseph Tyson Janney: Tyson, now proprietor of the old mill in Occoquan, married Meta Gibson; Joseph, deceased; Elizabeth, married Alfred B. Carter and resides in Washington, D. C.; Edith Hunter, married Rev. Simpson V. Hildebrand, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, residing at Culpeper, Virginia; Johns Hopkins, a flour salesman, of Washington, D. C.; Walter H., a physician of Occoquan; Samuel McPherson, of whom further; Marguerite Tyson, residing in Occoquan; Cordelia Waters, married Albert S. Johnson, of Fredericksburg.
Samuel McPherson Janney, youngest son of Joseph Tyson and Edith (Hunter) Janney, was born in Occoquan, Prince William county, Virginia, December 3, 1875. He was educated in Friends' School at Lincoln, Loudoun county, then entered William and Mary College, finishing his college courses at Randolph-Macon. He spent his youth and intervals in his school life at the old farm and mill in Occoquan, becoming thoroughly informed on grade quality and value of mill products. At the age of twenty-two years he became traveling salesman for the Washburn Crosby Company of Minneapolis, remaining with them one year. He then established a wholesale grocery house at Christiansburg, Virginia, continuing there in successful business for eight years. In 1909 he sold his interest there and became a member of the wholesale grocery firm of B. J. Marshall, of Fredericksburg, Virginia; in August, 1910, he became senior partner of the firm Janney, Marshall & Company, the present style and title of the house. The firm is a prosperous one, conducts a large business on the most modern principles, ranking high in the territory they cover. Mr. Janney is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, a teacher in the Sunday school and interested in all good works.
He married, in Christiansburg, November 22, 1906, Maude Hunter, born there, daughter of Charles William and Lucy (Gardner) Hunter, her father a merchant of Christiansburg, his present home. Children: Edith Hunter Janney; Charlotte Wade Janney.

[Pages 412-415]
John Patteson Branch. The late John Patteson Branch, veteran banker and philanthropist of Richmond, who passed away at his home in that city, February 2, 1915, in his eighty-fifth year, vigorous and strong, honored and respected, prosperous and contented, regarded the following rules as most effectively contributing to true prosperity: "Look first to character," "look next to health," "keep good company," "save a part of your income however small," and everlastingly remember that "what is worth doing at all is worth doing well." That these rule indicated the secret of his own life was proven by these facts: In a long business career in two cities not fifty miles apart his reputation for honesty and integrity was without blemish; that up to within a few weeks of his death he was strong and vigorous, a man Of attractive and commanding appearance; his friends were the men and women of high ideals and cultured tastes; that his fortune was ample and gained by a due regard for thrift and careful expenditure, and in all his work, whether in army, business, state or church, in so far as time and strength permitted, he was earnest, diligent and faithful. There were other traits of character that blended beautifully with those noted, and one was his unselfish devotion to the public good. He gave to the city of Richmond its building used for public baths, the first of its kind in Virginia; he contributed to every public charity or work of general interest calling for support; he led in all movements for good streets, good sewerage, good drainage, pure food and all that tends to better public health, in short the modern title "a soldier of the common good" would seem to have been coined expressly for John Patteson Branch, late of Richmond, Virginia.
A glance at the Branch ancestry shows English and Welsh forbears. Paternally he descended from Christopher and Mary Branch, who came from England to Virginia in the ship "London Merchant," in the year 1619 or 1620. His maternal grandfather John Blythe Read, was born in Wales. Christopher Branch, the founder, known as Christopher Branch, of "Arrowhattocks" and "Kingsland," traces in direct male line to Richard Branch, of Abingdon, in Berkshire, England, who was born prior to 1500, died in 1544. The family is of Norman origin and was brought to England by a knight in the train of William the Conqueror.
Christopher Branch, the founder, son of Lionel Branch, was born in England, in 1602, married, September 3, 1619, at the age of seventeen years, Mary, daughter of Francis Addie, of Darton, in Yorkshire. In March, 1620, they sailed for Virginia, and when the first census of Virginia was taken four years later, they were living in Henrico. In 1634 he patented one hundred acres at "Arrowhattocks," in Henrico county, now Chesterfield. This he added to by purchase and patent, until he acquired a large estate, surrounding his original patent. In 1632 he returned to England to contest for the possession of the Bull Inn estate in Abingdon, but an adverse decision of the court of chancery caused his return to Virginia. He died in December, 1681, or January, 1682. The line of descent from Christopher to John Patteson Branch is through Christopher (2), youngest son of the founder, born 1627, died 1665; Benjamin Branch of Henrico, third son of Christopher (2) Branch; Benjamin (2) Branch, of Chesterfield, only son of Benjamin (1) Branch; Captain Benjamin (3) Branch, eldest son of Benjamin (2) Branch, of Chesterfield, a captain of the revolution, justice of the peace and sheriff, died 1786, Thomas Branch, of Willow Hill, youngest son of Captain Benjamin (3) Branch, born April 4, 1767, died September 10, 1818, married Mary, daughter of Colonel David Patteson, of Chesterfield; Thomas (2) Branch, of Petersburg and Richmond, the latter father of John Patteson Branch.
Thomas (2) Branch was born at Willow Hill, his father's mansion in Chesterfield county, Virginia, December 23, 1802, died in Richmond, Virginia, November 15, 1888. He grew to manhood at Willow Hill, obtained a good education in well-known schools, and began business life in early manhood in Petersburg as a commission merchant, later becoming a banker. He successively founded and conducted the firms of Thomas Branch & Brother, of Thomas Branch & Sons, of Branch Sons & Company, and of Thomas Branch & Company, the latter firm established in Richmond during the civil war period. He was a member of the convention of 1861, and voted against Virginia leaving the Union, assenting only when desired to do so by those who had appointed him their representative, but when once the die was cast, he signed the ordinance of secession, and in the defense of his native state devoted alike his five sons and his not inconsiderable fortune. After the war ended he made his permanent home in Richmond, where he resided until his death. In 1871 he founded the Merchants' National Bank of Richmond, and was its president until 1880, when he resigned and was succeeded by his son, John P. Branch. During his Petersburg residence, Thomas Branch was a member of common council, sheriff, and several times mayor. While his business career was a successful one, and he died possessed of a considerable fortune, there was a period (1848) when he met with serious reverses, but he quickly recovered and met all obligations in full. Later he was noted for his conversation as a merchant and banker, so fortifying himself against adverse fortune that the firm of which he was the head safely passed through the great panics of 1857 and 1873.
In 1831 Mr. Branch joined the Methodist Episcopal church, and until his death, fifty-seven years later, he was one of its most devoted and useful members. He was conspicuous in fifty annual conferences of the church; contributed to the Methodist cause very large sums; was treasurer of the Virginia Bible Society; for many years treasurer of the Magdalen Association of Richmond; president of the board of trustees of Randolph-Macon College, and for long years a fast friend and liberal supporter. While devoted to his own church, he was singularly free from sectarianism. His heart went out to the ministry and brethren of sister churches, and with them he delighted to mingle and to worship.
Thomas Branch married (first) at Oak Hill in Amelia county, Virginia, October 19, 1825, Sarah Pride, daughter of John Blythe Read, of Wales and Chesterfield, Virginia. He married (second) in Westmoreland county, Virginia, April 22, 1857, Anne Adams, daughter of James Wheelwright. By his first marriage thirteen children were born; by his second marriage three. His second son, James Read Branch, was colonel in the Confederate army, winning imperishable honor by his daring bravery; his fourth son, Thomas Plummer Branch, was a gallant major of the Confederacy, and later one of the most prominent of Southern business men; the fifth son and tenth child, William Addison Branch, enlisted under his brother, Colonel James Read Branch, and served with distinction throughout the entire conflict; Melville Irby Branch, the sixth son, left school in 1863, at the age of sixteen years, to enter the Confederate army, resuming his studies at Virginia Military Institute after the war ended. Three sons-in-law of Thomas Branch also served in the Confederate army.
John Patteson Branch, third son of Thomas (2) and Sarah Pride (Read) Branch, was born in Petersburg, October 9, 1830. He was well educated in the best public and private schools of Petersburg, and would have entered college but for his then poor health. He began his commercial career in 1848 as clerk in his father's office, and by close study of books on commercial subjects and still closer attention to the advice and guidance of his honored father, he laid broad and deep the foundation upon which to build his future business structure. This association with his father was most valuable and one the father himself requested, wishing to have his son near him. He continued in mercantile life until 1861, the enlisted in the Forty-fourth Virginia Battalion, entered the Confederate army, rose the rank of first-lieutenant, surrendered with the forces of General Lee at Appomattox, April 9, 1865, and returned home paroled by the order of General Grant. On the retreat from Petersburg to Appomattox Court House, Lieutenant Branch was detailed on the staff of Major Snodgrass, then acting quartermaster-general of General Lee's army.
After the war he returned to Petersburg, where he was engaged in the banking business until 1871, then went to Richmond with his father, was connected with the Merchants' National Bank of Richmond, and in 1880 succeeded his father as president of that institution, also succeeding him as head of the banking and commission firm of Thomas Branch & Company. From 1880 until his death he was the head of the Merchant's National Bank, founded by his father in 1871, and institution that with a capital of two hundred thousand dollars has a bulwark of security in a surplus fund of one million dollars. He was a financier of recognized ability, and in business circles his matured judgment and wise counsel carried the greatest weight. His place in the business world was secure, resting as it did upon "Character," the foundation of all permanent success.
The work done by Mr. Branch for humanity was through many avenues, but principally through the church and educational methods. His public spirit extended to all of God's creatures, and in his zeal he knew neither city, county or state lines. He was the author of a number of articles on finance, written primarily for the purpose of instructing the public generally in things vital to commercial welfare and business progress. In the city he preached the gospel of sanitation and led the forces of progress in demanding better sewers, better drainage, better paving, pure food, and all other matters pertaining to public welfare. From such leadership resulted better things, a board of health, and more effective sanitary regulations. As heretofore stated, he gave the money to the city of Richmond for the erection of the first building for public baths in the state. His contributions to public charities were more than generous, and he gave himself to the public good, laboring in behalf of every movement that advanced and against every movement that injured the cause of municipal improvement. In the church, as in business, the mantle of his honored father fell upon him, and in this perhaps was his greatest work. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church from his thirteenth year until his death; he was for seventy years one of its strong pillars, a devoted member of Centenary Church, Richmond, also a steward and trustee. He was repeatedly a lay delegate to annual and general conferences of the Methodist Episcopal church, South; was a member of the Randolph-Macon system of colleges and academies; member of the board of trustees of the Methodist Orphanage of Virginia conference; member of the board of managers of the Methodist Institute for Christian Work, and to all he gave not only large contributions of money, but much of his valuable time and counsel. A recent gift to Randolph-Macon College was the "Branch" Dormitory, built and equipped in memory of his wife, who died in the year 1896. The cause of foreign missions was one that always appealed to him, his having been one of the willing purses to open at every special call. He believed in the doctrines of Methodism, and was loyal in support of her essential doctrines. To the pastors of Centenary, he was a "rock of refuge," he giving them loyal support in the upbuilding and strengthening of the church.
Withal a man of business and usefulness, Mr. Branch did not neglect the social side of life. He traveled extensively in Europe and America; was most hospitable in the entertainment of his friends; spent two months of the heated term at White Sulphur Springs; loved a good horse and always had one for driving purposes; belonged to the Westmoreland, Commonwealth and Country clubs of Richmond, also to the Deep Run Hunt Club, Robert E. Lee Camp, Confederate Veterans, the Sons of the Revolution, and was twice a member of the executive committee of the American Bankers Association, finding in all the keenest enjoyment, following his motto, "What is worth doing at all is worth doing well." Mr. Branch never sought nor accepted public office; while not a partisan in politics, since the war he supported the Democratic party, but prior to that time had been a Whig. Randolph-Macon College conferred on him, in 1913, the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.
Mr. Branch married, May 12, 1863, Mary Louise Merrill Kerr, daughter of Dr. John Kerr, of Petersburg. Children: 1. Blythe Walker, born in Petersburg, Virginia, March 16, 1864; was a member of the firm of Thomas Branch & Company; later was located in Paris, France, as manager of the Galena Oil Company, of Franklin, Pennsylvania; he married, October 12, 1899, at Paris, Marie Therese Ternat, of Correze, France. 2. John Kerr, born in Danville, Virginia, now president of the Merchants' National Bank, and a partner of Thomas Branch & Company, bankers and brokers; he married, at Quaker Hill, Dutchess county, New York, October 26, 1886, Beulah Frances, daughter of David Gould; children: John Akin Kerr, born at Elmwood, Quaker Hill, August 19, 1887; Zayde Bancroft, born at Elmwood, May 16, 1891; Louise, born in New York City, February 23, 1901. 3. Effie Kerr, born at Petersburg, Virginia, August 15, 1866. 4. Margaret Elizabeth, born at Richmond, Virginia, October 4, 1876; married, October 1, 1901, Arthur Graham Glasgow, of Richmond, Virginia, and London, England; child, Margaret Gholson, born in London, England, November 8, 1902.
The name Branch is thought to be the oldest name of Anglo-Saxon origin on the American continent. This is not so easily proven as the facts that it is borne, as it has been for many years, by men prominent in active business life in the city of Richmond, and that it is one of the most prominent and highly honored names in that city.