BIOGRAPHY, Rockbridge County, VA- "G" ********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ********************************************************************** GAY - William Gay, who fought at the siege of Londonderry, had at least six children who came to the Calfpasture. These were William, John, James, Robert, Samuel, and Eleanor. Robert and Samuel did not long remain in the locality. Eleanor married William Kincaid. William Gay, who owned 900 acres on what is wrongly called Guy's Run, died in 1755. His wife, who was Margaret Walkup, afterward married William Hamilton. James Gay, son of the pioneer James, and his brothers-in-law were the first men to introduce cattle of an improved breed into Kentucky. The Gays of Kentucky are derived from the Rockbridge families. They are among the largest landholders in the Bluegrass region and are connected with scores of the historic families of that state. Henry Gay, who married Jane Henderson, was a brother to the pioneer Gays, or at least a near relative, and he lived a while on the Calfpasture. His son, John H., born in 1787, became a millionaire merchant of St. Louis. Edward J. Gay, son of John H., was the largest sugar planter in Louisiana, and left an estate worth $12,000,000. The sugar mills and plantation are still in the Gay family. Source: A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia by Oren F. Morton, published in 1920. Transcribed and submitted by: "Marilyn B. Headley" , 1997 ************************************************************************************** JAMES EDWARD ALLEN GIBBS--was born August 1, 1829 ( it looks like a line missing) Rockbridge county, only son of Richard Gibbs, a native of Connecticut, who settled in Virginia in early life, and here married Isabella G. Poague, of this State. The limited school facilities of his youth, with lack of means for a collegiate course, has not deterred him from the acquisition of knowledge, but by close application to study, particularly to historical and scientific works, he has become a self educated man. He was reared in the business of wool carding, and was the inventor of a carding machine which reduced the cost of operating seventy five per cent. The carding business being superceded by large factories, he became convinced that his genius should seek another field . He was then part owner of a carding-mill in Pochontas county (now) West Virginia and disposing of his interest went to Nicholas county where he entered into partnership with a large land owner to erect a lumber and grain mill. In Nicholas county, August 26, 1852 he married Catherine, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Gibson) Given. She was born in Nicholas county. August 25, 1834, her father a leading man of that county. Through the fault of his partner, Mr. Gibbs not succeeding in Nicholas county , he, with his young wife, returned to Pocahontas county , and for three years he followed the trade of carpenter. It is indicative of the genius of the man , that without learning any trade he has been a successful carpenter, cabinet maker, millwright, machinist, and workman of almost every description. Mr. Gibbs attention was first directed to the sewing machine by the wood cuts illustrating its working , in newspaper advertisements. These only presenting a top view of the machine, left the course of the needle and of the thread under the clothplate, a mystery which to a mind like his was provocative of investigation, and finally led to his invention of the revolving looper. From this time on his genius was devoted to the construction of various sewing-machine improvements, and he has since taken out twelve patents in all. June 2, 1837, he patented his first and greatest invention, the revolving looper, the distinguishing feature of the Willcox & Gibbs machine, and understanding the wants of the public, he boldly asserted a new theory at war with all the established opinions of sewing machine men of the day, viz.: that the so-called lock-stitch was a delusion, not possessing the strength and durability claimed for it, and that a single thread stitch was more durable, elastic and stronger. The success of the machine is the guarantee of the correctness of his theory. Having visited Washington, Boston and New York in the perfection of his patent and in making business arrangements with Mr. Willcox, and having completed his ideal machine and got the manufacture started, with a royalty accruing to him, Mr. Gibbs returned to Pochontas county, and settled on a farm. The civil war followed and Mr. Gibbs, a southerner by birth and education, espoused the cause of the South with earnestness and zeal that patriotism alone can inspire, offering life, health, and wealth in defense of its principles. He was compelled to leave his home in the first year of the war and brought his family to his native county. His health prevented his entering into active duty, he was detailed by the Confederate government to the ordinance department, where he elicited high encomiums in the discharge of his duty, till the close of the conflict. He ranked as Lieutenant, and was on special duty at the battle of New Hope, Augusta county, Virginia. After the close of the war, the business of James Willcox was merged in the Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company, and Mr. Gibbs commuted his fees for stock in the company. He has ever since been a prominent stock-holder, has introduced the machine into most of the Southern States, and in 1869 conducted a suit in Edinburgh, Scotland, against infringers of his English Patent; after which he made a tour of the continent. Since the war, he has improved the farm he bought in Rockbridge county, rendering it a comfortable and elegant residence. Amid the events of his busy life he has ever preserved the integrity of his personal character, and since the age of sixteen has been a professing Christian. For several years he has been the leader of the largest Mission Sunday School ever taught in this section, winning and retaining the love of teachers and scholars. The children of Mr. And Mrs. Gibbs are four daughters: Florence Virginia, born June 5, 1853; Cornelia Alice, March 4, 1856; Ellabelle Blanche, October 9, 1859; Ethel Rowena, July 27, 1874. His postoffice address is Raphine, Rockbridge county, Virginia Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411-412. Transcribed and submitted by Judith A. Paul, LFBG01A@prodigy.com 1997 ************************************************************************************** JAMES SAMUEL GIBSON--born in Rockbridge county, July 27, 1841, in this county, March 21, 1864, was united in marriage with Emily Lamar Moore, who was born here on the 12th of May, 1846. Their children are seven, born: Magdaline M., January I7, 1865; Flora McElwee, February 1, 1868; Grace T., November 12, 1871; John, February 6, 1874; Mary I., November 4. 1876; Emily L., February 10, 1879; Sallie M., November 26, 1881. The parents of James S. Gibson are John and Grace M. (Taylor) Gibson, and his wife is a daughter of Major William M. and Sallie E. Moore. For two years of the civil war James S. Gibson was orderlv sergeant of Company H, 14th Virginia Cavalry, under Colonel Gibson. He is farming now in Walkers Creek district, having 782 acres between Brownsburg and Rockbridge Bath, with his postoffice adddress at Rockbridge Baths, Rockbridge county, Virginia. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411-412. Transcribed and submitted by Judith A. Paul, LFBG01A@prodigy.com 1997 ************************************************************************************** COL. JOHN ALEXANDER GIBSON--was born Timber Ridge, Rockbridge county, Virginia, September 5, 1833, a son of John and Grace McCampbell (Taylor) Gibson. His parents were born and raised in Rockbridge county. He served the cause of the South through the war between the States, and his brother, James S. was two years in the service. At Timber Ridge, January 14, 1864, George Anna Lackey became the wife of John A. Gibson, and their children were born: Theresa Adelia, 1867; Meta Hamilton, 1869; Emma Parke. 1872; John Alexander, 1874; George Harrison, 1876, died in 1877. William and Phebe (Hamilton) Lackey, natives of Rockbridge county, were the parents of Mrs Gibson,and she was born at Timber Ridge. The subject of this sketch the owner of 2,500 acres of valuable land in Rockbridge county and is also engaged in disstilling. To the cultivation of his land he adds the raising of fine stock , in which he is largly engaged. He entered the army as a private and for meritorious and gallant conduct received promotions to the rank of Lieutenent-colonel. He was twicse wounded, captured at Front Royal, and was held a prisoner at Fort Delaware nine months. He has served six years as justice of the peace, deputy Sheriff two years, and has filled the office of postmaster. His present postoffice address is Timber Ridge, Rockbridge county, Virginia. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411-412. Transcribed and submitted by Judith A. Paul, LFBG01A@prodigy.com 1997 ************************************************************************************** GLASGOW - Three brothers of this name, Arthur, Robert, and Joseph, came to America late in the eighteenth century. They first settled at ³Green Forest² within the present limits of Buena Vista. The second location at Max Meadows, while the third went with his large family to Ohio in 1806. The wife of Arthur was the widow of John McCorkle who fell in the battle of Cowpens. Of the three sons, Joseph settled at Balcony Falls, John at ³Tuscan Villa² at the mouth of South River, and Robert on his father's homestead. Alexander McN., the only son of John who attained his majority, inherited his own father's estate. He and his two sons were educated at Washington and Lee University. Of the four sons of Robert who arrived at maturity, Joseph R., and William A., settled at Fincastle as Lawyers, but the latter removed to Lexington in 1887, living here till his death in 1910 at the age of eighty-five. Frank T. settled at Richmond, and during nearly all of his business life was superintendent of the Tredegar Ironworks. Robert died of fever in the Confederate service. The sons of William A., who was many years a trustee of Washington and Lee University, are Frank T., and Robert of Lexington, the former an attorney, the latter a physician. With few exceptions the Glasgows have been Presbyterians, and the record of the family is very honorable in every respect. They have been very strongly attracted to the professions, particularly that of the law. Quite a number have been graduated from college, in several instances with much distinction. The town of Glasgow derives its name from the family. Source: A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia by Oren F. Morton, published in 1920. Transcribed and submitted by: "Marilyn B. Headley" , 1997 ************************************************************************************** GEORGE GOODBAR--is descended from one of the most prominent of the early families of Rockbridge county, and was a son of Joseph and Martha (Robinson) Goodbar. He was born in this county, April 15,1836, and his parents were born here, passed long and useful lives in the county, and are here deceased. George Goodbar was a soldier of the famous "Stonewall Brigade," in the Confederate service, and was fighting near Jackson when that gallant general fell at Chancellorsville. At Collierstown, July 12, 1863, George Goodbar and Eliza Jane Brads were united in marriage, and to them six children have been given: Mary Elizabeth, born February 15, 1864, deceased; Harriet Ann, born August 2, 1865; Martha Jane, September 22, 1867; Caroline Frances, 1872: Harry Hoffman, October 6, 1877; Alvin Gardner, November 15, 1879. Jacob and Harriet (Knick) Brads are the parents of Eliza J., wife of Mr. Goodbar and she was born in Rockbridge county, on the 25 day of June, 1840. The subject of this sketch is the owner of 114 acres of land on the head waters of Colliers creek, where he has his residence, with postoffice address at Collierstown, Rockbridge county, Virginia. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411-412. Transcribed and submitted by Judith A. Paul, LFBG01A@prodigy.com 1997 ************************************************************************************** JOHN M. GOODBAR.--born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, April 1, 1811, was a son of Joseph and Mary (Irvin) Goodbar. His father was a native of Rockbridge county, and died February 16, 1861, aged seventy-nine years, and his mother, born in Ireland, died January 25, 1821, at the age of thirty-nine years. The first marriage of John M. Goodbar was with Jane, daughter of John and Mary (Brads) Clark, and she died May 12, 1868. The children of their union were born: Joseph, August 4, 1834, lives in Greene county, Ohio; John, June 18, 1836, lives in Rockbridge county; Sarah, December 22, 1839, died April 23,1883; Newton, August 26, 1842, lives in Cass county, Missouri, Calvin, December 16, 1844, resides in Rockbridge county; Harvey, October 25, 1847, lives in this county. John and Newton served in the Federal army, defending the Stars and Stripes, and the subject of this sketch for adherence to the Nation with a big ìNî was made political prisoner by the Confederacy. In rockbridge county, November 10, 1870, he again entered on the marriage state, Anna Hull becoming his wife. She was bonr in this county , June 15, 1812, a daughter of Peter and Jane (Dickey) Hull. John M. Goodbar has an estate of 800 acres on black creek, a part under cultivation and all baluable land. In 1876 he was elected justice of the peace, and has been re-elected at each subsequent biennial elction, and is still serving. His postoffice address is Collierstown, Rockbridge county, Virginia. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411-412. Transcribed and submitted by Judith A. Paul, LFBG01A@prodigy.com 1997 ************************************************************************************** GRAHAM - William Graham, so prominent in the pioneer history of Liberty Hall Academy, was born at Harrisburg, Penn., Dec.19, 1746. In his youth he was inclined to be wild, but his viewpoint changed as he neared his majority. Aided more by his mother than by his father, he then began to prepare for the ministry, and was graduated from the College of New Jersey in the same class with General Lee. About the same time he was licensed to preach. In the fall of 1774 he came to Rockbridge to act as principal of the Presbyterian school that had just been authorized. He remained its head until 1796, when he resigned and went to the Ohio River with the intention of settling. But he was injudicious and the result was financially disastrous. He died at Richmond in 1799, while on a visit to the state capital in behalf of his land title. Some years later his remains were interred on the campus of Washington and Lee University. As the head of Liberty Hall Academy for twenty-two years, Graham had to struggle against some very untoward circumstances, and it is much to his credit that the school did not succumb. For the ministry he seems to have been rather less adapted. His strong point was in the teaching of political science, and he was a member of the convention that drafted the constitution of the state of Franklin, a commonwealth that had only a brief existence. It is unfortunate that this state did not come fully into being. It was not coterminous with the present state of Tennessee. The proposed boundaries, as stated by Arthur Campbell - a trustee of Liberty Hall,- included that part of Virginia sometimes called Little Tennessee, all of North Carolina west of the Blue Ridge, very small slices of West Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama, and rather less than one-half of Tennessee. It would have made a mountain state, homogeneous in geography and population. Source: A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia by Oren F. Morton, published in 1920. Transcribed and submitted by: "Marilyn B. Headley" , 1997 ************************************************************************************** ANDREW JACKSON GRAHAM--was born in Rockbridge county in July, 1828, a son of Andrew and Nancy (Davis) Graham. For three years of the civil war he took part in the active campaigns on Virginia soil under Early serving in Company G, 58th Virginia Infantry. Two of his brothers gave their life for the lost cause, one falling on the field of battle, and the other dying in the Federal prison at Elmira, New York. In Rockbridge county, February 27, l868, Andrew J. Graham and Sidney A. Beard were in marriage, and eight children are the sunshine of their home, namely: Rice H., Nannie Florence, George W. C., Anna, Mary, A. D., Joseph C. and Sidney. The wife of Mr.Graham was born in Rockbridge county, a daughter of William and Anna Beard. Andrew J. Graham owns and cultivates, 350 acres of land on Goshen branch of North river, and his postoffice address is Goshen, Rockbridge county, Virginia. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411-412. Transcribed and submitted by Judith A. Paul, LFBG01A@prodigy.com 1997 ************************************************************************************** ALEXANDER D. GRANT--born in Nelson county, Virginia, January 13, 1825 was only two years old when his parents, Alexander D. and Rebecca(Harris) Grant, made their home in Rockbridge county. Here he has resided and he is the owner now of 1,200 acres of land near the head waters of Irish creek. A large portion of this estate is mountain land, where has been found an abundance of tin, copper and iron ore, and more recent developments unmistakably indicate gold and silver. The mother of Mr. Grant died December 1, 1859 aged about sixty years and his father died December 16, 1869, aged seventy-seven years. In Rockbridge county, June 18, 1851 he married Hannah M. Copper who was born in this county, March 2, 1822. They have one adopted daughter, Mary E. Byers, born May 9, 1853. Darius Copper, father of Mrs. Grant, died in 1864, and her mother. whose maiden name was Sallie McAllister, died in 1870. Alexander D. Grant's postoffice address is Vesuvius, Rockbridge county, Virginia, Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411-412. Transcribed and submitted by Judith A. Paul, LFBG01A@prodigy.com 1997 ************************************************************************************** GREENLEE - In all the annals of Rockbridge there is no individual of more striking personality than Mary Elizabeth McDowell, who became the wife of James Greenlee. So far as we have positive knowledge, she was the only woman in the little hand of homeseekers, who in October, 1737, made the first actual settlement in Borden's Great Tract. At this time she was thirty years of age, and two of her eight children had been born. She lived many years a widow, and displayed much ability in managing a considerable estate. Its appraisement by William and John Paxton and Jacob Hickman showed that the personality was $2,970, inclusive of eight slave, these being valued from $100 in the case of a child to $500 for an adult. No books are mentioned. Illiteracy relieved her husband from serving as constable, and it would seem that the wife cared little for the printed page. Yet her mental faculties were keen and alert to the end, she used good language, and in a verbal passage at arms, she appears to have been a match for all comers. Various legends cluster about her name, and it has been handed down that her wit and her nimbleness of mind came near causing her to be proceeded against for witchcraft. This is not impossible, since it was in her own girlhood that a woman was ducked by the civil authorities in Princess Anne county on a charge of being a witch. In certain Alleghany valleys a belief in the delusion exists to this day among people of German descent. In her widowhood Mary Greenlee kept a tavern, and as hostess she showed her eye for the main chance by flouting the regulations of the county court relative to the sale of ardent spirits. She moved from Timber Ridge to Greenlee's Ferry in 1780. If Mrs. Greenlee was keen in business she was also something of a shrew. It was perhaps a victim of her caustic tongue who perpetrated the following lines of doggerel, which, let us hope, were written in pleasantry and not in malice, Mary Greenlee died of late; Straight she went to Heaven's gate; But Abram met her with a club, And knocked her back to Beelzebub. As a result of a lawsuit instituted by Joseph Borden, Mrs. Greenlee was called upon for a deposition. When asked how old she was, she made this tart rejoinder: ³What is the reason you ask my age? Do you think I am in my dotage? Ninety-five, the seventeenth of this instant.² It is evident that her mental processes were in extraordinarily good working order, even at another deposition, taken at her home four years later, November 10, 1806. Two-thirds of a century had elapsed since she came to Rockbridge. Her reminiscences of the early pioneer days are numerous and precise, and of much historical importance; more so than any other statements given by the old residents. Mary Greenlee became a centenarian, since her span of life reached from November 17,1707 until March 14, 1809. This tendency to longevity seems to have been inherited from her father, who reached a great age, and to have been passed onward to her grandson, John F. Greenlee, who died in 1915, when in his ninety-ninth year. Mr. Greenlee never married and was the last of the name in this county. Like his ancestress, he was in his old age a great source of information on local history. His habits were favorable to a long life, since he used no tobacco and rarely touched liquor. James, the husband of Mary Greenlee, died about 1764, leaving an estate appraised at $2,767.67. By owning six slaves he was the heaviest slave holder of that of that period of whom we have any certain knowledge. Exceptional items in the inventory are seven silver watcher, valued at $20 each, eight geese, and five pounds of beeswax. Yet the watches were not so low priced as they would seem since it would have taken a very good horse, or three cows, to buy a single one of them. Source: A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia by Oren F. Morton, published in 1920. Transcribed and submitted by: "Marilyn B. Headley" , 1997 ************************************************************************************** GRIGSBY - The Grigsby family appeared in this county at the close of the Revolution, having come from the other side of the Blue Ridge and being of English derivation. The members of the connection were well-to-do, able, and influential, and owned several large farms, each with its distinctive name. As in several other instances, the name is now entirely gone. Benjamin Grigsby, son of James, was graduated from Liberty Hall Academy in 1789, and was licensed as a Presbyterian divine in 1792. He died at Norfolk in 1810 at the early age of forty. His only son was Hugh Blair Grigsby, who achieved more than a statewide reputation as scholar, educator, and historian. Source: A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia by Oren F. Morton, published in 1920. Transcribed and submitted by: "Marilyn B. Headley" , 1997 **************************************************************************************