Nansemond-Prince George County-Suffolk City Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Brewer, Richard L. Jr., 1947 

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RICHARD LEWIS BREWER, JR.

COL. BREWER, 83, SUCCUMBS AT SUFFOLK

VETERAN LEGISLATOR DIES AT HOSPITAL

   Suffolk, April 5, - Colonel Richard L. Brewer, Jr., 83, Speaker of the 
Virginia House of Delegates from 1920 to 1926 and former Mayor of Suffolk, 
died at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Lakeview Hospital.

   The veteran Virginia legislator, well known in State political, civic and 
business circles, resigned last Fall because of ill heath from the State 
Board of Public Welfare on which he had served for almost 30 years.

   Colonel Brewer whose family came to Isle of Wight County in 1635 and is 
descended from John Brewer, of London, England, was born in Prince George 
County on May 27, 1864.  He was the son of R.L. Brewer, Sr., who served as 
Suffolk’s first Mayor from 1852 to 1856.

   The former Virginia Speaker was educated in the public schools of Suffolk 
and at the old Suffolk Military Academy.

   He served his apprenticeship to the jewelry trade in Williamsport, Pa., and 
entered his family’s jewelry firm here, known as R.L. Brewer & Son, becoming 
sole proprietor on the death of his father in 1903.

   Although his jewelry business took much of his time, Colonel Brewer evinced 
a deep interest in the affairs of the community and diversified his business 
interest, acquiring large real estate holdings and becoming interested in 
banking.

   His political and civic interests were equally as wide and varied.  He 
served for many years as a member of the Suffolk City Council, as the city’s 
Mayor from 1891 to 1903, as a member of the Virginia General Assembly for 22 
years and as Speaker of the House for six years.

   Colonel Brewer served as a member of the commission which journeyed to 
England to present to the British nation Houdon’s statue of George Washington 
which now stands in Trafalgar square.  The statue was unveiled by his 
daughter, Mrs. F. Whitney Godwin, also of Suffolk.

   Colonel Brewer first married Lelia J. Vellines, who was the mother of Mrs. 
Godwin.  After her death he married Miss Belle Ashburn, of Nansemond County, 
who survives him.

   Other survivors include a sister, Miss Ann Brewer, of Newport News, and two 
granddaughters, the Misses Judith Ann Godwin, and Martha Brewer Godwin, both 
of Suffolk.

   Funeral rites will be held at 4 p.m. Monday at Oxford Methodist Church and 
burial will be in Cedar Hill Cemetery here.


Col. Richard Lewis BREWER, Jr., jeweler, 
former Speaker of the Va. House of Delegates & Mayor of Suffolk, 
b. 27 May 1864, Prince George Co., d. 5 Apr 1947, Suffolk, 
interred in Cedar Hill Cemetery*, Suffolk, 7 Apr 1947, 
"The Richmond (VA) Times Dispatch," Apr. 6, 1947, p. 22 

*Cedar Hill list, an extension of the Southampton County Historical Society 
   {SCHS} Cemetery Project: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/cemeteries/cedar_a.txt 


Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
Al Washington, and re-formatted by File Manager. 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/obits/b660r1ob.txt