CAMPBELL COUNTY, VA - HISTORY - Campbell Chronicles and Family Sketches In the Public Eye ----¤¤¤---- CAMPBELL CHRONICLES and FAMILY SKETCHES Embracing the History of CAMPBELL COUNTY, VIRGINIA 1782-1926 By R. H. EARLY With Illustrations J. P. BELL COMPANY LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 1927 In the Public Eye Chapter IX Lynch Court DURING progress of the Revolution the loyalists in Bedford-Campbell section were menaced by foes both within and without their community, for while they were straining every effort to render assistance in support of armies in the field they suffered from depredations of enemies within their own confines. The whole of the mountainous portion of Virginia was infested with Tories and desperadoes who plundered the unprotected property of the loyalists. Efforts made to control the situation were without avail, because the unsettled condition of the time gave the culprits immunity from punishment, though they were frequently caught in the act. At one time Tories were subjected to double taxation, at another treble taxation, though afterwards they were allowed retribution: the call for prompt and strenuous action arose. County courts were merely examining courts in such-cases. For final trial for felonies there was but one court in the state, •which sat at Williamsburg, 2OO miles from Campbell, and the war rendered the transmission of prisoners thither and attendance of witnesses necessary to convict them next to impossible. The officers in charge of prisoners would often be attacked by outlaws and forced to release their captives or be captured themselves by British troops. The operation of civil law was thus rendered difficult and often impossible. In addition to this disordered condition, a conspiracy to overthrow the continental government was discovered in process of formation at a critical period, with the aim of aiding the British by all possible means. Colonel Charles Lynch, together with several neighbors, Captain Wm. Preston, Captain Robt. Adams, Jr., Colonel Jas. Callaway and other loyalists, decided to take active steps to frustrate the conspirators and restore order and quiet in their neighborhood as far as possible. They knew the risks they assumed but made no attempt at secrecy. A company was formed for the purpose of effecting their object and Lynch was chosen as head of the organization. Under his direction, suspected persons were arrested and brought to his house, where they were tried by a court of the leaders as associate justices. The accused was brought face to face with his accusers, heard the testimony against him, was allowed to defend himself by producing mitigating circumstances and witnesses in his behalf. If acquitted, he was allowed to go free, with apologies and reparation; if convicted, he was sentenced to receive thirty-nine lashes on his bare back, and if he did not then shout, "Liberty forever," was hanged up by the thumbs until he gave utterance to that sentiment. The penalty of death was never inflicted. When found guilty the prisoner was tied to a large walnut tree (yet standing) in Lynch's yard and the stripes were inflicted without delay. After the sentence of the court had been executed the culprit was released with words of admonition. One of the Tories was found to have papers of great importance, relating directly to the conspiracy against the government and the documents were discovered concealed in the cavity of a large square bedpost. Owing to the character of this information the conspirator was not allowed to go at large, but was assigned lodgings in an outhouse on Lynch's premises with injunctions not to leave, under penalty of severe punishment. No guard was assigned but the method of reproof was so impressive that the order was scrupulously observed. Many suits for damage in the infliction of Lynch law were taken to court from the community, and, in order to protect patriot defendants, Virginia Legislature passed a special act of indemnification that Whereas divers evil disposed persons in 1780 formed a conspiracy against the government—and that William Preston, Robert Adams, Jr., James Callaway, Charles Lynch and other faithful citizens aided by volunteers did by effectual measures suppress such conspiracy and whereas measures taken by them may not have been warranted by law though justifiable from the imminence of danger, Be it enacted therefore that sd. Preston, etc., concerned in suppressing the conspiracy or executing measures for that purpose, stand exonerated from all penalty on account thereof." Thomas Jefferson, who appears to have been conversant •with the affairs of his time, gave as a proof of the lenity of the government, that when the war had raged seven years not a single execution for treason had taken place. He had occasion to visit in the vicinity of the scene of Lynch's court, and no doubt knew what was presented at Assembly meetings. We may believe then that he had reason for his assertion. It has become the custom to compare pitiless mob law to that administered by loyal vigilants for the purpose of preserving order as far as possible. Lynch Law is thus distorted from its original significance, and serves to confirm misinformation concerning its derivation, giving it meaning, opposite to the original, in suggestion of lawlessness. On the lawn of the old Lynch property near Alta Vista stands the old walnut tree upon the limbs of which Lynch law was administered. A portion of it has died and it bears the marks of age but great care has been taken to protect and preserve the living portion. Bishop John Early John Early, son of Joshua, Sr., and Mary Leftwich Early, of Forest neighborhood, reared on a farm, was up betimes, hauling tobacco or other field crop to market ten miles away, arriving back home in time for a farmer's breakfast. He was a product of the years which followed the Revolution, when energy characterized endeavor, and being among the younger members of a large family, energy needed to be utilized. Thus we find that the zeal he exerted in the duties of boyhood days, grew apace in the spiritual labor he selected for his manhood. Eventually he located at Lynchburg which remained his working center and, until age enfeebled him, took part in every movement started for benefit of the city. It is said that he converted and baptized his own father and soon after entering the ministry participated in a Methodist camp meeting revival at Yellow Branch, Campbell county, during which a thousand aspirants were brought to their confession of faith. As time passed he sharply silhouetted his zealous activities upon the screen of religious progress and John Wesley had no more ardent a follower. His first appearance in public was at a conference held in 1808 at the Methodist Meeting1 House where he was among the candidates for ministry who were received on trial, though he had joined that church in 18O4, was licensed to preach two years later and admitted to Virginia Conference in 18O7. He began his religous labors among the slaves of Thomas Jefferson at Poplar Forest and was conspicuous for his interest in that race's religious advancement. In 1812 he had charge of a church at Greenville; writing from there to his brother, Rev. Thomas Early at Bedford at that time, he told of the volunteer enlistment of young men in Brunswick county for the war and that the captain had solicited him to go as their chaplain, a position he declined feeling that he had a more important work in the care of the churches. At the age of 27 years he was made presiding elder in the Meherrin District; was a founder of Randolph-Macon College and its rector for many years. He took active part in measures that resulted in the division of the church in 1844 and in the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at its convention at Louisville, Kentucky in 1845; and was the president pro tempore of its first General Conference at Petersburg, Virginia, where he was elected its first book agent. In 1854 he was made one of its bishops at a conference held at Columbus, Georgia. John Early married first Anne Jones, who died s. p., m. 2nd Elizabeth Browne, dau. of Anthony and Mary B. Green-Rives, a descendant of Colonel Henry Browne, a Councillor under General William Berkeley. Bishop Early died at Lynchburg in 1873 after an illness of two years, the result of a railroad accident; children: —Mary Virginia, born 1822, married James Leftwich Brown; a grandson of whom, James Rives Childs, graduate of Randolph-Macon College and Harvard University, took part in various departments of service in the World War, afterwards was in the American Relief Administration in Southern Serbia and in the devastated section of Russia, later U. S. Consul at Jerusalem, and now occupying the same office at Bucharest. —Dr. Orville Rives married, 1st Mattie Blunt; married, 2nd, Gertrude Cornelius; married, 3rd, Mary E., daughter of Judge Thomas A. Chevis. Dr. Early was a graduate of Transylvania College, dean of the Medical College at Memphis, Tenn.; served as surgeon in the Confederate Army with the rank of major; had charge of a hospital in Richmond and later in Lynchburg; afterwards made his home at Columbus, Mississippi. Rev. Thomas Howard, educated at Randolph-Macon College and at Transylvania, Ky.; studied law, the practice of which he pursued in partnership with Robert J. Davis; entered the Methodist ministry and held charges at Petersburg, Rappahannock and Charlottesville. As a member of the school board at Lynchburg he assisted in securing the establishment of the High School and in fostering its development. —John Fletcher, married Eliza J., daughter of Harding P. Bostick; educated at Virginia Military Institute. He became connected with the Methodist Publishing House at Richmond, Mobile and New Orleans. Finally located at Nashville, Tenn., where he died. A grandson, John Early Jackson, now associated with the Appalachian Power Company, is resident in Lynchburg; a daughter of Bishop Early, Frances P., resides at the old homestead in Lynchburg. Bishop Early was a member of a board for establishment of a school for education of poor children, called Lynchburg Charity School, and incorporated in 1823, the first local organized effort for public education. In 1825 he started a colonization society for raising means to send to Africa, all free people of color who desired to go and all slaves who were freed on that condition. The same year he was a member of a committee for bringing water to the city, a proposition which seemed impracticable, but was successfully carried out in 1829. He was among the applicants appointed to petition Legislature to incorporate the Lynchburg and Tennessee Railroad with the aim of connecting that road with the Nashville and New Orleans line. A bill in 1836 was passed authorizing construction of the road from Lynchburg to Richmond. In 1841 a state educational convention was held in Richmond, to which Bishop Early went as a delegate, in favor of free education. He was an advocate at a town meeting for a western road starting from Lynchburg, to be called the Richmond and Ohio Railroad. In 1853 he purchased from John Grouse a tract of land leading from Salem turnpike to Jones' Mill, and at this time he and his wife deeded to the citizens of Lynchburg a portion of this tract for a suitable cemetery. An association was formed, with Rev. John Early as President, and in June, 1856, the reservation christened Spring Hill cemetery, was formally dedicated. One of the large circular lots laid off was set apart for the family of Bishop Early and a shaft to his memory was later erected upon it by ministerial members of the conference. The old Early home, at corner of Court and Seventh streets, stands unaltered, as designed after a popular plan of his time, on straight lines with ample room space; the interior of which has fine hand work on mantel, chair-boarding and stairway. The ground site was purchased from Breckenridge Cabell, whose father, Dr. George Cabell, was one of the early settlers, and it adjoins the lot given by Mrs. George Cabell as site for St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Diagonally across the street is Court St. Methodist Church, where for many years Bishop Early swayed his congregations and directly opposite from the church stood the home of Dr. Robert S. Payne, who ministered to the body as Early did to the souls of many in the community. In this connection it is well to refer to a couple from a Northern state who established a school in Lynchburg, thus ministering to the youthful mind of the town and in so doing grafted themselves upon the affections of their scholars; it is doubtful if there has lived any one then associated with Amos Botsford, who does not recall him with appreciation and gratitude for his patience and kindliness in efforts to direct the young idea: and his wife, Julia, as well, though it may be the shadow of her ruler—sometimes brought to bear upon unruliness and unpreparedness—will leave her a little behind her husband in tender memory. Temperance Apostle A temperance society was organized by Rev. W. A. Smith in 1828, which lasted for a long time and was effective in lessening intemperance. When Father Downey came to take charge of the Catholic congregation, he started a total abstinence society among his parishoners and delivered speeches on temperance. The Catholics formed the St. Francis Xavier Total Abstinence Beneficial Society in 1873, with Patrick McDivitt, president; Patrick Doherty, vice-president; James O'Brien, secretary; John Casey, treasurer; John Kelly, steward, and the Rev. J. J. McGurk, spiritual director. The society met every third Sunday and during its continuance accomplished much good. The credit is given Captain Thomas A. Holcombe for being the most earnest advocate of the temperance cause, in organizing societies, distributing tracts and traveling over the state in the interest of this work. He died in 1843, and the temperance societies erected a monument over his grave in the Presbyterian cemetery. The work he had started did not cease at his death; a long petition was presented in 1846 to the Common Hall requesting that sale of liquor not be allowed in the town; yet the demand was rejected, leaving work in interest of temperance still to be pursued. In I860 upon completion of the new Centenary Methodist church, their old building, erected in 1811, was sold to the Sons of Temperance, on condition that it be used only for meetings, lectures, literary and scientific entertainments. It was named in honor of Captain Thomas A. Holcombe "Holcombe Hall." In 1879 the question arose as to whether this hall, formerly the old Methodist church, could be used for a theater, and if the Sons of Temperance were not exceeding permission granted them by the Methodists in holding theatrical entertainments there. The case was carried into court in 1879 when Judge James Garland rendered the decision that by the terms of the deed it must be confined to its use for moral, religious and scientific purposes. The proposition then undertaken to turn the building into a public library failed. Eventually it was converted into housing tenements and with the alteration of the structure, the name which served to recall one of the town's most active citizens, disappeared in connection with the cause to which he had devoted so much time and energy, but the general campaign for prohibition developed to effectually carry on the work he had taken up. Captain John B. Tilden, a second temperance apostle, died in 1877. In 1849 Lynchburg members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Pendleton and Abner Clopton divisions of the Sons of Temperance petitioned for an act of incorporation allowing them to hold a limited amount of real estate in the town. In 1855 a division of the Sons of Temperance was formed in Campbell county. Young Poet The earliest Lynchburg poet, of whom record is found, was Bransford Vawter, son of a tailor who was among the first settlers in the town. Born in 1816, he early developed talents of a superior order, and his death at the age of twenty-three, was a disappointment to his many friends. Even though so young he was made an officer in a military company called "Invincibles," and president of the Patrick Henry Debating Society. It was thought he would have attained high rank as a poet had he lived. His poems were not collected in book form, but he was a contributor to the Southern Literary Messenger and a few of his writings have been preserved, which are considered best specimens from his pen. One of these was copied into other magazines and, set to music, was circulated over the states, though few knew its authorship, which became revealed through the offer of a prize upon announcement of the writer's name. It was said to have been inspired by an unhappy attachment to a Lynchburg lady; but appeared in print without heading as well as without signature. The plaintive lines suggest the chivalrous feeling which prompted them and are as follows: "I'd offer thee this hand of mine If I could love thee less, But hearts so warm, so fond as thine, Should never know distress. My fortune is too hard for thee, "Twould chill thy dearest joy; I'd rather weep to see thee free, Than win thee to destroy. "I love thee in thy happiness, As one too dear to love, As one I think of but to bless As wretchedly I rove. And oh! when sorrow's cup I drink All bitter though it be, How sweet 'twill be for me to think It holds no drop for thee. "And now my dreams are sadly o'er, Fate bids them all depart, And I must leave my native shore, In brokenness of heart. And oh! dear one! when far from thee I ne'er know joy again I would not that one thought of me Should give thy bosom pain." A later Lynchburg poet, Cornelia J. Matthews-Jordan, has bequeathed "The Grave of Bransford Vawter," thus memorializing his burial place in the old Methodist cemetery. Mrs. Jordan's poems were collected together by her daughter, Mrs. Theresa Ambler; many of them written during the war period of 1861-'65 are characterized by the pathos of ever recurring tragedy which fell to the share of the community that had contributed its quota of victims to shot and shell. Two young Lynchburg poets, Murrell Edmunds, graduate of law, and Abe Craddock Edmunds, L.A., of the University of Virginia, sons of Mrs. W. Murrell Edmunds, have attracted much attention by the publication of two (recently issued) volumes of their poems, which display unusual poetic talent. Two County Writers John Kennedy patented 4OO acres of land on a branch of Hurricane creek. His son, John P. Kennedy, moved to Baltimore, Md., was author of "Horseshoe Robinson," "Rob of the Bowl," and other stories. "Horseshoe Robinson," a South Carolina narrative, laid about 178O,-first published in 1835, then again in 1852,—was suggested by a visit Kennedy made to the western section of South Carolina in 1789, from an incident heard there which he used in the plot of his story, and his introduction to his hero, Horseshoe Robinson, then around 7O years of age. After Kennedy published his "Tale of Tory Ascendency in South Carolina," he sent Robinson a copy of it which was read to him and won from him the voucher that "It was all true and in its right place." Colonel John H. Latrobe is given as authority for the statement that John P. Kennedy furnished Thackeray for the account of George Warrington's escape from Fort Duquesne on his journey through the wilderness to the banks of the Potomac, as Thackeray had never seen the valley through which his hero fled after his daring escape. The story is told as follows: Kennedy was at a dinner in London, with Thackeray, Anthony Trollope, Wilkie Collins and other notables. The dinner was over, and the guests were settling down to the wine and cigars, when Thackeray, who was entertaining the company, suddenly stopped and, looking at his watch, exclaimed: "Gentlemen, I must leave you. I have promised the printers a chapter of "The Virginians" tomorrow morning and I haven't written a line of it yet. The printer is inexorable. So wishing you all another meeting when I can be longer with you, I bid you good evening." Thackeray had almost reached the door, when Kennedy called him back and said, "Perhaps I can write the chapter for you. What are you going to describe?" The great novelist seemed a little surprised, but said, "Kennedy, you are extremely kind, and gladly would I let you write that chapter for me, for I hate to leave a jolly party." "Then don't," all the company cried. "Stay with us and let Kennedy write the proposed chapter." "I've half a mind to let him do it, just for the fun of the thing," said Thackeray. "It is a chapter chiefly of description giving an account of George Warrington's escape from Fort Duquesne and his journey to the Potomac." Kennedy responded, "If that is what you are writing about, I can do it, for I know every foot of the ground." "All right, then," said Thackeray resuming his seat, "let me have it early tomorrow morning." Going to his hotel Kennedy wrote the fourth chapter of the second volume of "The Virginians" and thus it happened that the narrative of George Warrington's flight was so accurate as to the topography of the country through which he passed. A later writer, one time Campbell resident, was Dr. George W. Bagby, whose father was a merchant in Lynchburg, and his mother a member of the Evans family. Dr. Bagby at 18 years of .age began the study of medicine in which he graduated at the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, and started the practice of his profession in Lynchburg, (where his father lived), but later became editor of the Lynchburg Virginian. His editorial articles were afterwards collected and included in a volume with "The Old Virginia Gentleman," which describes Clerk James Steptoe of Bedford and his home at Federal Hill, about 3 miles from Poplar Forest, Jefferson's Bedford county home. Bagby*s book tells that Steptoe was. beloved by every one, especially by his slaves, whom he had had taught different trades' that they might support themselves after his death, when, by his will, they were set free. Born 175O at Hominy Hall, Westmoreland county, Va.; died 1826 in Bedford county. Children: —Major James, married Catherine Mitchell.—Dr. William, married 1st, Nancy Brown, married 2nd, Mary Dillon.-George, married Maria Thomas.—Robert, married Elizabeth Leftwich.—Thomas, married Louise C. Yancey.—Elizabeth, married (2d wife) Hon. Charles Johnston of Sandusky.—Frances, married Henry S. Langhorne, of Lynchburg.-Sallie, married William Massie of Nelson county.—Lucy, married Robert Penn of Bedford county. Rt. Rev. Jas. Steptoe Johnston, Bishop of Western Texas, was a descendant of Chas. and Elizabeth S. Johnston. Dr. Bagby moved to Richmond: he became a writer for other magazines, succeeding John R. Thompson as editor of The Southern Literary Messenger, in 186O-64. Partial loss of his eyesight led him to enter the lecturing field, where he received great applause. An Active Life Campbell has had no more distinguished a son than Dr. (Colonel) Robert Enoch Withers who lived a long useful life of constant activity and, in his declining years, penned the reminiscences of his varied experiences. After early preparation by private tutors, and attendance at Samuel Miller's "Woodburne Classical School" in Pittsylvania, he matriculated in 184O-1 at the University of Virginia in the medical class, from which he graduated as a licensed doctor before his twentieth year. He then returned to join his father in the practice of his profession at Rock Castle, but at the end of a year received appointment as one of the resident physicians at the Alms House Hospital, about two and a half miles \vest of Baltimore, where he remained another year, then returned to his native county. During his practice following (1845) the community was visited through its high rolling portion by an epidemic of Enteric fever, which lasted for nearly five months — and which he successfully treated — the first and worst appearance of the disease in Virginia. His marriage to Mary V. Royal of Lynchburg occurred in 1846. After this he made his residence in his father's home for a short while, but soon moved to a place he named Briery, because it was located upon worn-out land over-run with blackberry vines. To improve this property he decided to apply Peruvian guano, which had just begun to attract the attention of farmers, though none of his neighbors had previously experimented with it. Thus he introduced its use into Campbell. In 1858 he was induced to sell Briery (a residence afterwards burned), and moved to Danville. There he was commissioned captain of the Danville Grays, and, at the formation of a battalion of three companies, received the commission of major of the regiment, which had been called "Third" upon its organization, but later was numbered as the 18th Virginia Infantry. Colonel Withers was dangerously wounded at the battle of Games' Mill and carried to Richmond, where he was discovered to be seriously injured. The doctor attending him, reported the likelihood of his death, but he became well enough in the following autumn to return to the army, yet a severe rheumatic attack caused him to give up active service and he then took charge of the prison post at Danville, and was resident there when that city became the seat of the Confederate government (following Richmond's evacuation) and later when it was under Federal administration. At the solicitation of his political friends he canvassed as a candidate for Congress, but, as his was not at that period the popular side of politics, his opponent won over him. About this time he entered upon the lease of a grazing farm in the rich portion of Tazewell county and would then have taken up his abode there, but was offered and accepted the position of editor of the Lynchburg News, of which Christian and Waddell were proprietors. In 1867 he was induced to enter the race as candidate for governor of the state, but in the interest of his party, afterwards withdrew from the field. When county government became reorganized he was elected supervisor of Tazewell where he was then living. In 1870 (the year when public schools were being established in Virginia), Colonel Withers was employed by the University Publishing Company of New York, as their agent, to secure the adoption of their series in the state schools, and after the first year of that service he was made general agent for all of the Southern states. In 1873 he, together with Commodore Maury, was appointed by Governor Kemper to represent Virginia at a meeting of the National Agricultural Association which met in St. Louis, Missouri. In the previous year Withers and General Kemper had been Electors at Large from the Conservative party to the National Democratic convention. At this time Withers was again in the campaign for governor, and his friends made a good fight for him, but the majority party being opposed to him, again won the race for their candidate. Then, by the overwhelming demand of his party, he was induced to accept the office of lieutenant governor and this secured for him the position of president of the Senate. In 1875 Withers resigned as lieutenant-governor and entered the United States Senate, to which he had been elected. There he met Senator Thurman of Ohio—the head of the Democratic Senators—whose ancestors had resided in Campbell, from which county his family had moved, and settled in Ohio. While serving as Senator, Colonel Withers was elected one of the Board of Regents of Smithsonian Institution. It was at this time that the decision to erect a mortuary chapel to General Robert E. Lee at Lexington was made, and at the laying of the corner-stone a public ceremony was arranged with Colonel Withers, as a Virginia Senator and Confederate Veteran and Creneral Joseph E. Johnston as the speakers. 1881 saw the close of Colonel Withers' political career. In 1885 he received the appointment of Consul to Hong Kong in place of Colonel John S. Mosby, removed. He held the post four years, then resigned from the consulate and returned to Virginia. Wholesale Pioneer Many years ago James Bruce, a resident in a neighboring section to that which became Campbell county, drew public attention to himself by his great financial success in his system of operating wagon-trains for the purpose of supplying country merchants with their wares. This was before water and rail carriers had .been brought into service, and when transportation was slow and difficult because of the unimproved condition of roads. While reaping the benefit of his operations, Bruce was also a benefactor to the merchants and their patrons who might have fared badly lacking this systematized service. His enterprise and profit seem not to have prompted his neighbors to follow his example, thus not having to contend with competition in his line of work, he managed to amass a large fortune, and became classed with the few capitalists of equal possessions in his day. He lived when accumulation of land and slaves for field cultivation and care of crops, especially of tobacco in its varied manipulation and distribution, were objects more appealing to the planter than trade, and when engagement in the latter occupation was not considered the proper one for the gentleman who could otherwise provide support for his family. As time wore on this point of view changed, and there was awakened a perception of trade's use upon ambition's ladder, for it could lead to the expansion of fortune and influence. Long before advance was made towards the operation of chain stores—as at present generally established—a hint was imparted by the action of Nathaniel Guggenheimer, Sr., a merchant of Lynchburg, in his starting a branch merchandise store at Concord about seventy years ago. This merchant was of the race which has ever evinced a genius for successful mercantile operation. While he may not have reached the pinnacle of financial success at which he aimed, he furnished the initiative which probably influenced Max Guggenheimer, his brother-in-law, in his far-reaching efforts towards the introduction of wholesale merchandising in Lynchburg. The younger Guggenheimer rendered service to his state as a Confederate soldier. At the cessation of war activities he returned to Lynchburg. The older merchant having passed away, he took charge of and conducted the retail business of his predecessor; started a wholesale department, which ultim-ated in the establishment of Guggenheimer and Company, the first wholesale house in the community. Had the policy of money manipulation by investment in corporated industry been as zealously pursued as now and had public interest in trade expansion been as keen, Max Guggenheimer would be generally recognized as pioneer in wholesale business which gave the city its first impulse towards extended activities, thus paving way for new industries, increase of operators, expert workmen with their families, and consequent growth in population. Father of Army Dental Bill Robert Withers Morgan, son of Richard and Sophia W. Jones-Morgan, and named for Dr. Robert Withers, was reared at Shady Grove, near Pigeon Run (now Gladys). He enlisted when a youth in his teens in Company "E" of the llth Virginia Regiment of Pickett's Division, was wounded at the second battle of Manassas and again at Gettysburg and was captured at Milford on May 21st, 1864. After the close of the war Morgan studied dentistry at Baltimore Dental College, receiving there his degree. His army experience in seeing soldiers suffer from lack of attention to their teeth—though himself at an age when youth is not generally very thoughtful—suggested the idea of having a dental corps in the regular army. Following this thought he formulated a bill, which Major Peter J. Otey presented to Congress and which was passed in 19OO, providing for a Dental Corps to be attached to the Medical Unit as a regular part of the army, the dentist to have the rank of major. In recognition of his having formed and introduced the bill, Dr. Morgan was appointed by the Secretary of War in February, 1901, one of three dental surgeons forming the first supervising and examining Dental Board, stationed at Washington. Later Dr. Morgan was sent to the army post at Havana, Cuba, but the climate there disagreed with his health, and he returned to Lynchburg, where he had previously established his home and dental office. He never regained his health and died in 1904. Such importance is now attached to the condition of the teeth, as furnishing a seat of disease, it may be realized that no more auspicious movement has been started than that of Dr. Morgan for the benefit of a national branch of service, especially in view of the fact that army posts are often situated in remote sections of country which lack the improved facilities of dental practice. Lame Orator Campbell has ever exhibited the attitude of paying honor to John W. Daniel. His personality and ability inspired respect, his career as soldier, orator and statesman confirmed it, and caused him often to be chosen as county mouthpiece. At his death popular sentiment, calling for voluntary subscription, erected a monument (which was executed by Sir Moses Ezekiel) to his memory in a small parking reservation upon the highest point of Lynchburg, the place where he was born in 1842. When the war of 1861 started Daniel was a youth of 18 years attending Dr. Gessner Harrison's University School, but immediately enlisted into service, and was soon made a 2nd lieutenant in Company "A," 11th Va. Reg.; then became 1st lieutenant, and adjutant later. He was commissioned in the Spring of 1863, at General Early’s instance, assistant adjutant-general upon the latter's staff, with the title of major, in which capacity he served for over a year. He was wounded several times, first at the first battle of Manassas, again at Boonsboro, Md.; then so severely wounded May 6, 1864, at the Wilderness, as to be lamed for life—this happened when he was attempting to lead one of Pegram's regiments to General Gordon's assistance, and while behaving with great gallantry, was shot twice, once in the leg, which permanently disabled him and ended his war service. After the war terminated he took a course of law at the University of Virginia, then returning to Lynchburg entered upon the practice of his profession. His first call to public life was his election to the State Legislature as a member of the House of Delegates, in which he remained for three years, and in 1875 he was elected to the State Senate, and re-elected four years later. In 1884 he was elected to the House of Representatives, and was chosen to succeed Gen. Wm. Mahone in the U. S. Senate, his term beginning in 1887, holding that position to the time of his death. He was a Democratic elector-at-large in Virginia in 1876, and delegate-at-large from Virginia to the national Democratic conventions of 1880, 1888, 1892, 1896, 19OO, 1904 and 1908. Senator Daniel was the author of two law books, "Daniel on Negotiable Instruments" and "Daniel on Attachments," which are accepted as standards by the profession. About a year after the death of Senator Daniel, his son, Edward M. Daniel, collected into book form many of his father's speeches, and in thus preserving them said he felt that he performed a service that was not without real value to the state which the senator had served so faithfully, a sentiment to which everyone will assent, for there is embodied in these speeches only expression of fine principles. In 1866, while a student at the University, Senator Daniel made an address before the Jefferson Literary Society in which he asserted that "the great achievements that have dignified and embellished the annals of mankind have been performed by a few earnest men gathered together in the spirit, as well as in the name of right and acting under impulse of a glorious sentiment." Called to South Carolina to deliver the oration at the Centennial Celebration of the battle of Kings' Mountain, in 1880, he told of the great battle fought there by the people clad in coarse, homespun garments, with knives in their belts, and flintlock rifles in their hands, but not a bayonet nor cannon, no ambulance or wagon, no general officer, not even a regular soldier in the army of victory, yet they climbed the strong breastworks of the rugged mountain, through onsets of enemy bayonets and laid low in battle or led captive, every soldier who defended it. "Complete to the wish," Colonel William Campbell, as the commandant, said of their victory. One-fourth of the army of Cornwallis was annihilated by an inferior force, with a loss of but 28 killed and sixty wounded. Daniel quoted from John P. Kennedy (of Campbell county parentage), in "Horseshoe Robinson," as he depicted the battle "from this turning point the cause advanced to a speedy end, the victory was a. fresh fountain of strength, and the parent of new triumphs, and resulted ultimately in the consummation of our independence." A singular test fell to Daniel in a request from Vice-President Hobart, that he would speak at a Lincoln dinner in New Jersey. The answer given was that to speak on such an occasion a speaker should be in whole-hearted sympathy with his subject; that some one better fitted should be selected. Asked to reconsider his decision, the senator, looking over one of the •war president's biographies, found a page which so impressed him with its absence of hostile thoughts, that he consented to the request made of him. These were the words he read, and which were said at the first meeting of the Cabinet after the news had been brought of Lee's surrender: "Gentlemen, before you take up public business, I have a remark to make on my own account. I hear cries here and there, 'Hang this man, hang that man.' There has been enough blood-shed in this country, and I can say to you for myself that instead of catching anybody and hanging anybody, I wish all of those who feel that they might leave their country for their country's good, might go away without anybody's catching them." There seems in these words almost a suggestion of regret that he had once evoked the spirit of war. Concerning the War of the Confederacy, Major Daniel said: "Revolutions imply the impossibility of compromise and never begin until overtures are ended; after that there is no halfway house between victory and death. Had surrender come before its necessity was manifest to all mankind, reproach, derision and contempt—faction, feud and recrimination—would have brought an aftermath of disorder and terror; and had it been based upon such terms as those which critics have suggested, a glorious revolution would have been snuffed out like a farthing candle in a miserable barter over the ransom of slaves. Though the Confederate soldiers did not achieve the independence of the Confederacy, they did preserve the independent and unshamed spirit of their people, and in that spirit the South finds shield against calumny, title to respect, and incentive to noble and unselfish deeds." It seems very fitting that Senator Daniel should have been called upon in 1888 to second the nomination of Allan G. Thurman for the office of Vice-President of the United States, in doing which he gave the record of his nominee: "Fifty years ago, and more, there went beyond the Alleghanies, from the town of Lynchburg, a preacher of the Gospel, who carried with him his wife, his boy, his Bible, and household goods. He settled in the splendid young commonwealth of Ohio. The boy became the father of the man. The man by his force of character rose to the high places of the people's confidence. They made him their representative in Congress. They clothed him with the ermine of the Chief Justiceship of their court. They made him governor of their state. They sent him as a senator of the United States, and then he was a statesman of countrywide and worldwide renown; and wherever there were difficult conditions to be confronted and difficult theories to be expounded, he measured the breadth of every occasion until he became the beacon of the people's hope and the center of the state's desire." It was a proud moment for speaker and listener, the old and the young countrymen met together on such an auspicious occasion. John W. Daniel's was a life of miraculous escape from tragic death, for besides his war encounters, he was a near victim at the falling of the capital building at Richmond, where so many of those then associated with him were killed or injured. The country home of Senator Daniel, Westerly, was the former property of Colonel Peyton Leftwich, and situated on an eminence at the foot of which was Blackwater creek. Here the Senator spent the latter years of his life. At the time of Lynchburg's last annexation all of that land was incorporated within the city limits, and is now owned by Richard Carrington of Lynchburg Shoe Company. Benevolent Hand Samuel Miller, a native of Arbemarle county, born June 3O, 1792, on Humpback Mountain, was the son of a poor widow and had few advantages. As a young man 18 years of age, he moved to Lynchburg and secured employment in the store of Benjamin Perkins. By application and economy he managed to go into business for himself. He began by buying tobacco and finally, by operating in stocks and securities, succeeded in amassing a fortune. In 1829, at the age of 31 years, his health failed and he retired to his farm near the Quaker Meeting House, a short distance from Lynchburg, where he lived alone with the exception of his few servants. Devoting his attention to his bonds, stocks and newspapers, he spent his days, polite to all callers, but never courting company. He accumulated a fortune of several million dollars, chiefly by two great financial strokes—first in cornering the English market in hemp, and second by cornering tobacco, also in the English market. Several years before his death he donated 4O acres of land for the establishment of the Lynchburg Female Orphan Asylum, which was given his name at first but changed back to the designation he had chosen for it. In his will he bequeathed to the city its finely wooded park which also bore his name, but is now known as City Park. Further bequests to Lynchburg were $2O,OOO towards construction of a reservoir on College Hill and $3OO,OOO as a fund for support of the orphanage. Miller died in 1869 and was buried within the Orphanage grounds, where a granite memorial shaft was erected in recognition of his charities. Besides his beneficence to Lynchburg he gave $2,OOO,OOO to found an industrial school for boys in Albemarle, his native county. A suit, lasting many years, was brought to set aside his will, but was finally settled, the bulk of his property going as provided. As time passes, his charities become more far-reaching, and have paved the way to advancement for many a girl and boy? equally poorly circumstanced, as he had been in early life. The city park, obtained through his provision, remained for many years the only one in the city, furnishing a recreative reservation for those seeking the shade of its fine oak grove and repose from city noises. Thus it happens that the money for collecting which Miller devoted the longest period of his life, has brought blessings not only to residents of the county where he was born and reared but also to those in the county of his adoption. Wailes Perkins, one of Miller's beneficiaries, not inspired by his benefactor's thriftiness, said it did not pay to work; he had tried it, following the plow one whole day, when he had worn out a pair of $1O boots. He claimed that he could have hired a farm hand to do the same work for 50 cents. An incorporated Company, Lynchburg Female Orphan Asylum, was formed June 1O, 1868, the purpose of which was the education and support of destitute white females of Lynchburg and its immediate vicinity. The names of officers for the first year were Ambrose B. Rucker, president; John G. Meem, vice-president; Jas. O. Williams, secretary and treasurer; with Geo. D. Davis, Lorenzo Norvell, Chas. W. Button, David E. Spence, Wm. A. Miller, J. F. Slaughter, Thos. E. Murrell and D. P. Halsey, members of the Board. According to the constitution the entire management was vested in the 13 Board Members, who were to be elected by the stockholders, one each from the Protestant denominations in Lynchburg and the remainder from the stockholders, not communicants of any church. No child over 12 years of age could be admitted. On Feb. 2, 1875, two children were received into the orphanage, since when more than 4OO women have passed out to business communities and homes of their own. By various purchases the original tract has been increased to 93 acres, the greater part of which is woodland. About 3O acres under cultivation, provides vegetable, fruit and corn maintenance, while dairy and poultry furnish milk, butter and eggs. Meat is also supplied on the premises. Since 1869 more than a million dollars has passed from the orphanage into city business channels, yet during its existence no demand has been made upon the city for financial assistance. Jones Memorial Library George M. Jones, a successful merchant and financier of Lynchburg, having lost his only children, two beautiful daughters, in their girlhood, decided to give a library to Lynchburg as a memorial to them, and made some provision for it in his will; In 1896 Jones gave the Randolph-Macon Woman's College $15,OOO for a Memorial Library. In 19O5 his widow formed the George M. Jones Library Association and incorporated it with a body of seven trustees. The building was erected, equipped and opened for one day in October, 1907, for a reception of the citizens with the assurance from Mrs. Jones that they would soon have the pleasure of using the books; and this occurred in June, 19O8. She provided an endowment of $5O,OOO at that time, together with the ground and building. At her death she left to the Library her whole estate, which amounted to a little over $5OO,OOO, making the total of $55O,OOO, the interest upon which provides the present income for maintenance of the library, now containing upwards of 21,OOO volumes. The work is carried on at present in the Main Library, with three branches—the Fort Hill branch in the Fort Hill Community Club-house on Memorial Avenue; the College Hill branch in the Robert E. Lee Junior High School building on Floyd and 13th street; and a branch in the Dunbar High School for use of colored citizens. Three members of the Board of Trustees were on the original board when the library was incorporated by Mrs. Jones— A. R. Long, Walker Pettyjohn and O. B. Barker. To this number was added four others, Dr. E. C. Glass, R. T. Watts, J. D. Owen and J. R. Gilliam. The members of the staff are Miss J. M. Campbell, Mrs. E. K. Peck, Mrs. Warren Dickerson, Misses Sallie Hamner, Josephine DuPuy, Elizabeth Dirom and Claudine Kizer. Mrs. E. Spencer is in charge of Dunbar School branch. The library with extended and improved grounds, is situated on Rivermont Avenue at its intersection with Victoria Avenue, upon an elevation sufficient to moderate the noise from street traffic, and protect it from other disturbance, as the locality is as yet detached from the business section of the city. Since education has become largely featured in all progressive movements, this Jones' Memorial well serves the city within which it is located, by its timely establishment and endowment. Valuable Papers About twenty years ago, Professor Denny of Lexington, Va,, returned some boxes of papers in his possession—which, •were the property of Richard K. Cralle—to the family of the latter, which papers were found upon examination to be of a public character. These letters were received at the time when Cralle was chief clerk and occasionally acting secretary of state, to John C. Calhoun, at the time the latter was Secretary in President Tyler's administration—and as they were exclusively of a public nature, they were given to Custodian Hunt of the Document branch of the Congressional Library. There the letters were bound together in handsome folio volumes, entitled "The Cralle Papers," as further examination had proved them to be of unique value in settling certain mooted points, especially in regard to the establishment of our northwestern boundary line. Secured in their new home from damage or loss, they are also accessible to historical students and writers. Rd. K. Cralle left a Mss. volume of his poems which were destroyed in a fire at the Cabell House in Lynchburg. He moved to Lynchburg from Lunenburg county, and married Judith Scott, the second daughter of Dr. John J. Cabellr and resided in the Cabell home on Main street (where the Elks building now -stands ), and there hrs wife, after a rfew years, died, leaving a daughter. He moved to Washington City during the period of his secretarial work. Married the second time Bertie Morris, and built a residence on College Hill which acquired the .name Cralle's Folly, because it was unusually large and pretentious. This structure was afterwards converted into a college for young men, and it embraced a military department. At the beginning of the war of 1861 a company was formed of the students there. Afterwards the college was used for residences. Rd. K- Cralle moved to Greenbrier county, W. Va., where he died leaving a large family of children. His daughter, Mary, of the first marriage, married N. H. Campbell, of Bedford county, who was a leading attorney in Lynchburg for some years, but moved to New York City; returned to Lynchburg and died in 1867. Judge J. Lawrence Campbell, one time member of Virginia Legislature and judge of Bedford court.-Rd. K. Campbell of Washington City, who held government position of Commissioner of Immigration at Eastport, Maine, and New Brunswick, then in Immigration Department at the U. S. Treasury, later head of Bureau of Naturalization in the Department of Labor; lastly, on Special Review Board of Bureau; and Henry Terry Campbell, a leading Norfolk banker, were grandsons of Richard K. Cralle, Lynchburg attorney-at-law, and his wife, Judith Cabell-Cralle. Settlement of State Debt Randolph Harrison, son of Henry and Jane St. C. Cochran-Harrison, of the legal firm of Harrison, Long and Williams, at Lynchburg, was appointed a member of the commission for the settlement of the debt between Virginia and West Virginia, and was also attorney for the commission in the protracted litigation only ended in 192O, when final settlement was accomplished. Randolph Harrison had been a delegate from Lynchburg to Virginia Legislature in 1893. A narrative, which reads like fiction, appeared in a Virginia paper in connection with West Virginia's honoring Virginia deferred certificates, issued in 1871, for West Virginia's share of the state debt incurred prior to the separation of the two states. For years the deferred Virginia certificates could be bought in Virginia as low as 1O cents on the dollar. Many holders, despairing of their ever being paid, threw them away. They were almost in the class of Confederate money. The litigation, resulting in the West Virginia debt settlement, gave them real value. When the settlement for these certificates was made it was discovered that there was approximately $5OO,OOO which had not been presented for payment, and of this amount, certificates representing a face value of over $7O,OOO had been issued to Charles and Alfred Morrison of England. Clerk H. B. Churmside, of Charlotte county, becoming acquainted with these facts and recalling that his aunt married Alfred Morrison, who died in 1897, communicated his information to his British relatives. These reported that they did not have the certificates and that they must have been destroyed or lost. Urged to make a more thorough search, they were finally found in a safe box in the office of one of the estate's solicitors. West Virginia honored the certificates then presented by English heirs of Charles and Alfred Morrison, sending gold bonds in payment, half of which will go to the heirs of Alfred Morrison, among whom are Hugh Morrison, member of Parliament, Major Archibald Morrison, Viscountess St. Cyres and Lady Stephen Gatting. Charles Morrison lived in London, an unknown millionaire. When he died in 1909 England was astonished to discover that he had left an estate of $75,OOO,OOO, of which $55,000,000 was in personal property. Fitzhugh Lee Before General Fitzhugh Lee's appointment in 1896 as Consul General to Cuba he held the position of Internal Revenue Collector for the Western district of Virginia, and during his incumbency of that office, he made his residence in Lynchburg. His characteristic manner of speech caused him to be an agreeable companion and served him in securing great popularity, for jest—the spirit of jollying too serious outlook on life,—was instinctive with him. Intercourse between Generals Lee and Early (devoted friends) was, ever in speech or correspondence, in the nature of good humored badinage, the one twitting the other with some real or accredited peculiarity. On one occasion when they were discussing Early's correction of certain written history, Lee banteringly warned Early that a good many writers were waiting for him to die. Perhaps, as often happens in similar cases, because of his well-known trait, many witticisms were attributed to Lee, of which he was not the author. After he had donned the United States uniform it was told of him that upon retiring one evening, he requested his wife to put his U. S. suit out of sight for he was afraid (he told her) that he might get up in the night and shoot at it. He has been credited with the tribute to United States' world prominence when at a meeting of the nations, after most of them had toasted their own countries, and the United States was taking its turn, alphabetically along with the remaining small American nations, an Eastern representative arose and modestly, but impressively, gave the natural bounds of the country. Not satisfied that this information had inspired sufficient respect, a Westerner then followed to tell of its possible bounds. Following this champion of his country's cause, not sure that due effect had been produced, Lee hastened to give the bounds of its promise: "on the north by the Aurora Borealis, on the east by primeval chaos, on the south by the procession of the equinoxes, and on the west by the Day of Judgment." He thus compassed the dream of America's most ambitious citizen. U. S. Senator Senator Carter Glass came of Scotch-Irish stock, his emigrant ancestor having settled in Virginia before the Revolution. His grandfather, Thomas Glass, born in Flu-vanna county, purchased land in Amherst and settled there, and was captain of a militia company. He married Lavinia, daughter of Richard and Ann Williamson-Cauthorne. His oldest child, Robert Henry Glass, married Elizabeth, daughter of Judge Samuel Christian, and grand-daughter of Captain Henry Christian, an officer in the Revolutionary war. R. H. Glass devoted his business life principally to newspaper work, becoming editor and proprietor of the Lynchburg Daily Republican, and papers in Petersburg and Danville. He was postmaster in Lynchburg before and during the war of 1861 and while holding that office issued a special Lynchburg war stamp, now valued because of its rarity. During part of the war he served on the staff of Gen. Floyd with rank of major. We find Senator Glass starting out to carve his own career, having lost his mother, at fourteen, the age when most youths are still hovering about that parent. His first work was on the Lynchburg Republican. Familiar with the newspaper business, he continued in that profession and in 1876 engaged with his father on the Petersburg Index, but returned to Lynchburg at the expiration of one year, and held the office of clerk in a railroad auditor's office for three years. In 188O he was on the local staff of the Lynchburg News, which had been founded in 1866 by Robert Waddell. Two years later he bought out the News, then bought The Virginian, and merged it with The News, and also acquired The Advance, an afternoon paper. In 1886, as clerk of the city council, together with John W. Carroll, president of the council, he signed the agreement giving the Richmond and Alleghany railroad right of way for one track through the city upon payment of $5,OOO. Senator Glass was elected to the State Senate in 1899, and served two years. In 19O2 he was elected a member of the State Constitutional Convention and took a prominent part during agitation of the suffrage article in the new constitution. In 19O2 he was elected to Congress from the 6th district to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Major Peter J. Otey. Taking his seat in December of that year, he was placed on the banking and currency committee, having previously served on a similar committee in the State Senate. For ten years he made a careful study of the banking systems and in 1911 was second ranking Democrat on that committee. Later, chairman, with the election of Woodrow Wilson to the presidency, he began the framing of what is now the federal banking system. During the fight for a new banking system for the United States, Senator Glass was closely associated with President Wilson, and took an important part in pushing the reserve system through congress. His service in connection with the enactment of the Federal Reserve law, combined with his authority on financial matters, led to his appointment to the cabinet, as Secretary of the Treasury, succeeding Wm. G. McAdoo. Upon the new treasurer fell the task of putting over the Victory Loan of 1919. When Senator T. S. Martin died in 1919 Treasurer Glass, upon being offered the appointment to the senate vacancy by Governor Davis, resigned the portfolio in the cabinet and took his seat in the Senate in February, 192O. His last address (heard by the war president in 1923, Armistice Day), was at a pilgrimage to the Wilson home and was an endorsement of the League of Nations. Senator Glass is engaged upon a history of the Federal Reserve Act and other events in the Wilson Administration. He married Aurelia Caldwell; has two daughters and two sons, Powell and Carter, Jr., the latter of whom has charge of the active management of his two Lynchburg papers; owns a stock farm at Montview along the low lands of Candler's Mountain, where he built a home upon native stone foundation on the foot hills, a location which affords a fine view of the neighboring country. His farm is stocked with pure bred Jersey cattle,-for dairy and breeding purposes—which include some of the finest registered cattle to be procured. Recently Senator Glass has been honored by the philanthropist, George P. Baker, of New York City, in the selection of his name for one of the buildings to be erected at Harvard University, for the use of the economic research division, which are to be named after secretaries of the treasury. It is designed to deposit the original Mss. of Senator Glass' speech— upon the occasion of his presenting the federal reserve act in the House of Representatives on September, 1913—with the archives of the Carter Glass Hall. Campbell watches for Senator Glass' next movement. ___________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com ___________________________________________________________________