BIOGRAPHY, Rockbridge County, VA- "P" ********************************************************************** 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. ********************************************************************** ROBERT M. PARKER - son of Ezra and Eliza Jane (Goff) Parker, who are now deceased, was born in Rockbridge county, December 8, 1824, and in this county his wedded life began, Nancy Jane Hazlett becoming his wife on the 27th of August, 1857. She was born in this county, March 15, 1840, a daughter of John Hazlett, now deceased, and Sarah (Barr) Hazlett. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Parker are three daughters and two sons, all at home, born: John Isreal, July 18, 1859; Sarah Jane, February 22, 1861; Rosetta F., May 24, 1863; Christiana, December 25, 1865; Robert T., September 19, 1869. Robert M. Parker was a soldier of the South in the war between the States. He follows the trade of blacksmith at his place of business at the headwaters of Colliers creek, horse shoeing and all work of his trade done at short notice. His postoffice address is Collierstwon, Rockbridge county, Virginia. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411. Transcribed and submitted by: "Valerie F. Crook" ********************************************************************** PARSONS-- Colonel Henry C. Parsons, several years owner of the Natural Bridge, was a native of Vermont. He was the author of "The Reaper," a volume of poems. Colonel Parsons was murdered at Clifton Forge, June 29, 1894, by a railroad man. Source: A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia by Oren F. Morton, published in 1920. Transcribed and submitted by: "Marilyn B. Headley" , 1997 ************************************************************************************** PAUL-- Captain Audley Paul was a son of Hugh Paul, a Presbyterian minister, who migrated from county Armagh, Ulster, to Chester county, Pennsylvania. He was a very useful officer, and was in military service nearly all the time from 1754 until the close of the Revolution. He led his company several times against the Indians. He was under Washington in the battle known as Braddock's Defeat, and he endured the hardships of the Big Sandy expedition. His son relates in 1839 that his father received no compensation for these services. Captain Paul lived near the line of Botetourt. His brother John became a Roman Catholic priest in Maryland. Source: A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia by Oren F. Morton, published in 1920. Transcribed and submitted by: "Marilyn B. Headley" , 1997 ************************************************************************************** PAXTONS-- The Paxtons, a very numerous connection in this county, fall into two groups, the progeny of two brothers. One of these settled on South River, the other south of Lexington. The Paxtons have been a prosperous fold and have stood high in the community. Several of the earlier generations were wealthy, aristocratic planters, and unusually heavy growers of hemp. Not a few of the descendants have attained prominence in literary, professional, and business circles. Major James Paxton, a son of William and his wife Elenor Hays, was from 1818 until 1828 commandant of the arsenal at Lexington. He then retired to an estate at the mouth of the Cowpasture owned by his father-in-law, John Jordan. Here he died in 1866 at the age of eighty-five. Major Paxton was a great leader and scholar. A shadow come over his life through his killing of a Captain Dade in a duel. Colonel James H., a son of Colonel William Paxton, was a graduate of Washington College in the class of 1833. He delighted in the classics and was the foremost Latin scholar in Rockbridge. At his home, "Mountain View," he maintained for twelve years a classical school, and was a friend of public schools. Colonel Paxton served a term in the Senate in Virginia. He died in 1902 at the great age of ninety years. His wife was Kate Glasgow, and his children were Nellie, Kate G., Archibald H., Robert (a captain in the United States army), William T., Professor James H., and J. Jordan. John D. Paxton, who died in 1868 at the age of eighty-four, was also a graduate of Washington College. For some years he was a missionary in Europe. His sermons number 5769. He was a most vehement opponent to slavery, and in 1833 he published a volume against it. He also published a volume on his travels in the Eastern continent. A memoir of Mr. Paxton was written by his widow. His nephew, John W., a son of James H. Paxton, was an eminent physician. Elisha F. Paxton the one brigadier directly contributed by Rockbridge to the Confederate army, was a nephew to Governor McNutt, of Mississippi, and was born in 1828. He graduated from Washington College in 1845, from Yale College in 1847, and completed a law course at the University of Virginia in 1849. General Paxton was an original secessionist, and at the outset of the war was a lieutenant in the Rockbridge Rifles. After serving as aide-de-camp to Stonewall Jackson, he took command of the Stonewall Brigade, November 2, 1862. He was killed at the head of his troops in the battle of Chancellorsville, May 2, 1862, just one day before his commander was disabled. Indifferent eyesight had caused him to abandon the law and turn to farming. The wife of General Paxton was E--- H. White. His children are Matthew W., the present editor of the Rockbridge County News, and the present dean of Rockbridge journalism, John G., an attorney of Kansas City, and Frank of San Saba county, Texas. James G., an elder brother of General Paxton, was killed August 6, 1870, in the train wreck at Jerry's Run on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. Alexander S., a son of Thomas P. Paxton, was the author of Memory Days, a delightful sketch of antebellum times in Rockbridge. The story centers about an old field school near the entrance to Arnold's Valley. Source: A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia by Oren F. Morton, published in 1920. Transcribed and submitted by: "Marilyn B. Headley" , 1997 ************************************************************************************** HON. JAMES H. PAXTON - The great grandmother of the subject of this sketch, in the early days of Rockbridge county, settled on the farm now owned by him, with five sons, two of whom died unmarried. Of the other three sons, William (grandfather of James H.) remained here, Thomas settled at Mouth of Buffalo, and John on the farm now owned by Mrs. Johns on James River. All were active in the development of the resources of the district, and their descendants have been among its most respected and enegetic people. William, father of James H., married Polly Paxton, both were born in this county, here passed useful lives and are now deceased. James H. was born in Rockbridge county, and at Green Forest, this county, he married Kate G. Glasglow. Their children are seven, namely: Eleanor Mary, Robert Glasglow, Catharine Anderson, William, James Haye, Joseph Gordon, Archibald Heath. The wife of Mr. Paxton was born in Rockbridge county, a daughter of Robert and Catharine T. Anderson Glasglow. Her father was born here, her mother came from Botetourt county. James H. Paxton is one of the substantial farming residents of Rockbridge county, and has always taken a prominent part in every effort to promote the best interests of the people and to advance the cause of right and truth. He is chairman of the district school board, and has filled the office since 1870. For eight years, from 1852, he was a member of the Virginia Senate. His postoffice address is Green Forest, Rockbridge county, Virginia. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411. Transcribed and submitted by: "Valerie F. Crook" ********************************************************************** JOSEPH S. PAXTON - was born in Rockbridge county, on James River, on New Years Day, 1842. William and Sarah P. (Burks) Paxton are the parents of Joseph S., his mother born in Bedford coutny, Virginia, and his father in Rockbridge county. At Seclusaval, in this county, Mr. Paxton's present place of residence, December 20, 1847, was born Roberta E., daughter of Robert C. and Mary E. (Parry) McCluer. At her home, on the 11th of April, 1871, the Rev. D. W. Shanks joined in marriage bands Joseph S. Paxton and Roberta E. McCluer, and they now have two sons: William, born November 18, 1872; Robert, August 3, 1876. The parents of Mrs. Paxton were born in Rockbridge county, and her father is descended from John McCluer, one of the first settlers here. Mr. Paxton's father's family were also early settlers here, and were related to John Grigsley, the first person buried in the Falling Springs cemetery. The subject of this sketch entered the Confederate service as private, was promoted to lieutenant of Company E, 52nd Virginia Infantry, and remained in service till the close of the war. He was wounded in the second battle of Cold Harbor in May, 1864. His brother William was killed in the first Manassas battle, and Luther, another brother, was killed in a skirmish near Winchester in 1864. Joseph S. Paxton is a farmer and stock-raiser, making a specialty of cattle and sheep. He is an elder of the Falling Springs Church. Postoffice address, Fancy Hill, Rockbridge county, Virginia. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411. Transcribed and submitted by: "Valerie F. Crook" ********************************************************************** SAMUEL D. PAXTON - son of James and Agnes (Dixon) Paxton, and Sallie McFaddin, daughter of John and Rachel (Kennedy) McFaddin, were united in marriage in Rockbridge county, Virginia, on the 29th day of April, 1841. Both were born in this county, his birth on the 2d of April, 1814, and her birth occurring near Brownsburg, May 16, 1818. The record of their children is: James T., born March 11, 1842, killed at the battle of Petersburg, April 2, 1865; Rachel M., born November 25, 1843, died October 6, 1846; Virginia A., born June 30, 1847, lives in this county; Ettie A., November 29, 1850, is at home; Elizabeth M., May 21, 1853, resides in this county; John M., June 25, 1856, lives at Danville, Pittsylvania county, this State. James T. enlisted as private in the 2d Rockbridge Artillery, and was in the engagements from Strausburg to Cross Keys. In the latter battle for meritorious service he was promoted to second duty sergeant. In the battle of Bristoe Station he was twice wounded, in the thigh and hip, and he was also a participant in the battles of Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, in the raid into Pennsylvania, and the battle of Gettysburg. He was, indeed, found doing a soldier's duty in all the engagements of his company except when on furlough to recuperate from his wounds. In the terrible struggle of Petersburg, elsewhere described in this work, he fought with his own battery until it was captured, when he fell abck and helped to man a Maryland battery. There he lost his life, a musket ball striking him in the forehead and causing instant death. Samuel D. Paxton served for three years in the command with his son, and was in the battle of Cross Keys. He is a wagon-maker and farmer, with postoffice address at Rockbridge Baths, Rockbridge county, Virginia. SAMUEL W. PAXTON - son of Alexander and Catharine (Deitrick) Paxton, was born in Rockbridge county, December 20, 1832. His parents were born in this county, and his father died July 13, 1852, aged fifty years. His mother lived to the age of four score and two years, dying June 15, 1883. Samuel W. Paxton was orderly sergeant of Company E,52d Virginia Infantry, on entering the Confederate service at the beginning of the civil war, and in 1862 received commission of captain, commanding Compnay E till the close of the war. He was elected justice of the peace in 1875, and by successive annual elections has been continued in the office till the present time. He owns and carried on a fine farm of 122 acres, near South river, and six miles from Lexington, Rockbridge county, which is his postoffice address. In Augusta county, Virginia, November 28, 1882, he was united in marriage with Sarah F. Kerr, who was born in Augusta county, on New Years Day, 1853, a daughter of Nathaniel and Jane (Rivercomb) Kerr. Her father is still a resident of Augusta county, and her mother has been many years deceased. On the 27th of October, 1883, a son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Paxton. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411. Transcribed and submitted by: "Valerie F. Crook" ********************************************************************** WILLIAM MOORE PAXTON - deceased - was born in Rockbridge county, September 2, 1825, and died here September 9, 1875. He was a son of James and Mary Wilson (More) Paxton, natives of this county, and he married Sallie M., daughter of Robert and Sallie (Steele) McCormick. She was born in Augusta county, Virginia, December 22, 1833, and her parents were born in that county. Her mother died September 15, 1881, and her father died Decmeber 8, 1879. The marriage of William M. Paxton and Sallie M. McCormick was solemnized in Augusta county, September 9, 1852, and their children were born: Mary Steele, June 19, 1853; R. J., December 14, 1855; Emma R., July 11, 1857; H. T., March 3, 1859; W. D., May 14, 1861; John M., March 11, 1863; Sandy Mc., March 27, 1865; Walter S., July 11, 1867; N. J. Poague, January 20, 1869; Annie V., December 3, 1871. The last-named died October 19, 1878, the oldest daughter has her home in this county, and the other children are with their mother. Mr. Paxton filled various offices of public trust from an early age till his death, so discharging his duties that his children are rich in the heritage of his good name. He left his wife and children with 400 acres of land, and his sons are engaged in carrying on the estate. The farm lies on the Fairfield and South River road, and their postoffice address is Fairfield, Rockbridge county, Virginia. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411. Transcribed and submitted by: "Valerie F. Crook" ********************************************************************** HON. EDMUND PENDLETON - born in Amherst county, Virginia, September 29, 1823, was a son of Dr. Micajah and Louisa J. (Davis) Pendleton. He married in Cincinnati, Ohio, February 13, 1845, Cornelia M. Morgan, who was born in Cincinati. She was a daughter of Ephraim and Charlotte (Anthony) Morgan, and was born on the 16th of April, 1824. The parents of both Mr. and Mrs. Pendleton are no longer living. The record of their children is: William W., born Decmeber 24, 1845, served in the Confederate army in the Washington Artillery from New Orleans, and died in 1870; Lizzie C., born March 8, 1849, is the wife of Dr. Walter Coles, of St. Louis, Missouri; Morgan, born August 25, 1857, lives in Lexington, Rockbridge county. Edmund Pendleton has followed the profession of law for many years. He was a member of the Virginia Senate, sessions of 1869-71, and took up his residence in Rockbridge county, in 1879. He is practicing law in Lexington, where he has his residence and postoffice address. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411. Transcribed and submitted by: "Valerie F. Crook" ********************************************************************** ERMASMUS LAFAYETTE PERRY - was born in Lexingotn, on the 8th of April, 1834. His parents made their home here in 1821, Thomas Littleton Perry and Mary (Knowles) Perry. His father was appointed deputy sheriff in 1837, and continued in the office until July 22, 1869. The office is now filled by the subject of this sketch, who is also chief of police od Lexington, and has held other offices of honor and trust. By ability and energy he has accumulated considerable real estate and is one of the prominent residents of Lexington. He has been chief of police for five years, and was appointed duputy sheriff ten days before the resignation of his father. Thomas Littleton Perry was a member of the Home Guards in the war between the States, and was able to give three sons for active service in the field, one of them the subject of this sketch. They served through the war, and were participants in the battles of Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, Winchester and numerous smaller engagements. On the 8th of December, 1870, E.L. Perry married Lizzie Jane, daughter of George Smith Armentrout and Mary (Wilson) Armentrout, her mother a native of Rockbridge county, and her father from Alleghany county. Her birth was in Alleghany county, Virginia. The children of their union are recorded: George Thomas, deceased; Frank Wilson, Edgar Lafayette; Charles Houston, deceased; Walter Smith, and Samuel Littleton. They are at home. E. L. Perry's postoffice address is Lexington, Rockbridge county, Virginia. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411. Transcribed and submitted by: "Valerie F. Crook" ********************************************************************** PLAGUE-- William T., son of John B., and Elizabeth (Stuart) Poague, came out of Washington College in the class of 1857, and entered the practice of law in St. Louis. In the Confederate army he rose from the rank of private to that of lieutenant-colonel. He was with General Lee in his Greenbrier campaign, and was in all of Stonewall Jackson's battles. In 1885 he became treasurer of the Virginia Military Institute. Other positions of honor and trust were held by him. Source: A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia by Oren F. Morton, published in 1920. Transcribed and submitted by: "Marilyn B. Headley" , 1997 ************************************************************************************** WALTER W. PLEASANTS - is a native of Rockbridge county, born in Collierstown, December 7, 1857, a son of Robert A. and Martha E. (Mathena) Pleasants. December 22, 1880, in Collierstown, Fannie L. Showalter became his wife, and their son Samuel E. was born the 1st of November, 1881. Samuel and Sallie (Yount) Showalter were the parents of Mrs. Pleasants, and she was born at South River, Rockbrudge county, Virginia, April14, 1863. Mr. Pleasants father served Virginia during the four years of the civil war, returning home without a wound, although he had been captured and held a prisoner for eighteen months. The parents of Mrs. Pleasants were natives of Rockingham county, Virginia, coming here in 1850. They now reside in Colliersown, this county. Her father is a blacksmith, and he hs reared a family of eight children, of whom Mrs. Pleasants is the youngest. He was born in 1821, and his wife in 1826. Walter W. Pleasants has his postoffice address at Lexington, Rockbridge county, Virginia. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411. Transcribed and submitted by: "Valerie F. Crook" ********************************************************************** COLONEL WILLIAM T. POAGUE - was born in the ancestral home where he now resides, December 20, 1835, a son of John Barclay and Elizabeth Stuart (Paxton) Poague. In the first year of the civil war, Colonel Poague served as lieutenant in the Rockbridge Artillery; second year a captain of the organization; third year as major for a month or so in McIntosh's Artillery Battalion, then till the close of the war in command of a battalion of artillery composed of Utterback's and Wyatt's (afterwards Johnston's) Virginia Batteries; Graham's (afterwards William's) North Carolina; Ward's (afterwards Richard's) Mississippi, and for the last months of the war also (unreadable) Virginia Batteries. He received a promotion to rank of lieutenant-colonel in the spring of 1864. The roll of his engagements includes first Manassas, Kernstown, McDowell, Winchester, Port Republic, Malvern Hill, Cedar Run, second Manassas, Harper's Ferry, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania C. H., Jericho Ford, second Cold Harbor, Dutch Gap (where for nearly eight months his command worked the mortars day and night), the last day's fight at Petersburg, and at Appomattox, as well as other engagements throughout the war. In the retreat to Appomattox Poague's Battalion shared the fortunes of the army of Northern Virginia, and on the morning of the surrender, with Gordon's Corps, it advanced in the final charge, and its guns were among the last heard on that memorable field. Since the war Colonel Poague has been for some time engaged in teaching, and has been a member of the Virginia legislature one term, 1871-2 and 1872-3. Owing to defective eyesight, he has now turned his attention to farming. His estate - the old homestead - lies in Natural Bridge district, and his postoffice address is Buffalo Forge, Rockbridge county, Virginia. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411. Transcribed and submitted by: "Valerie F. Crook" ********************************************************************** PRESTON-- The Preston group-family is noteworthy for the exceptional number of eminent persons it includes. Colonel William Preston, a soldier and surgeon of the Dunmore and Revolutionary wars, was the only son of John, the immigrant and his wife, a sister to Colonel James Patton. Thomas L., tenth child of Colonel William, was an alumnus of Liberty Hall Academy, a lawyer and died in military service in the war of 1812. Colonel John T. L. Preston, son of Captain Thomas L., began active life as a lawyer, but for forty-three years was professor of language and literature in the Virginia Military Institute, a school that he helped in no small degree to establish. During forty years he was known as the "town speaker," yet he was somewhat unsocial and is not always choose to be on the popular side. All his seven sons were educated at Washington College. His first wife was Sally L. Caruthers, his second was Margaret, the eldest daughter of President Junkin, of the same institution. The children who reached adult age were Thomas L., Franklin, William C., John A., Elizabeth, George J., and Herbert R.. Thomas L. and John A., became ministers. Franklin and William C., were killed in the war, the first at New Market, the second at Second Manassas. Franklin, the best linguist of his age in the state, was assistant professor of Greek in Washington College. George J., and Herbert R., were the children of the second wife. Both settled in Baltimore, the first as a physician, the second as a lawyer. Source: A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia by Oren F. Morton, published in 1920. Transcribed and submitted by: "Marilyn B. Headley" , 1997 ************************************************************************************** CHARLES PULSE - son of David and Elizabeth (Palser) Pulse, was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, on the 8th of February, 1823. His marriage was solemnized in Clarke county, Virginia, May 13, 1847, and in 1849 he took up residence in Rockbridge county. Since that time he has been cultivating his farm of thirty acres, four miles from Lexington, on the Buena Vista road, and following the trade of carpenter. He went into the Confederate army during the war between the States, and did good service in the fields of Winchester, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, around Richmond, and numerous lesser engagements. The wife of Charles Pulse was born in Berkley county, (then) Virginia, February 8, 1828, Mary E., daughter of Thomas and Frances (Pulse) Woodward. they were married May 13, 1847, and the children of their union were five: George F., Thomas Elwood, deceased; P. W. S.; Virginia F. and Laura Ann. Charles Pulse's postoffice address is South Rover, Rockbridge county, Virginia. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411. Transcribed and submitted by: "Valerie F. Crook" **********************************************************************