Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 3.djvu/160

 126

VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

Mary Llaldwin Seminary. He was elected as a Democrat to the fifty-sixth congress (March 4, 1899-March 3, 1901), and dis- tinguished himself in his advocacy of the rural free mail delivery, and by his speeches on the bill to regulate trade with Porto Rico; and his resolution of sympathy with the Boers in South Africa. He was a dele- gate in the state constitutional convention of 1901-02, in which he was a leading figure. He married, October 19, 1876, Cornelia Stout, of Augusta county. He resided in Staunton, \'irginia.

Rhea, William Francis, born in Washing- ton county, \'irginia, April 20, 1858; at- tended Oldfield school and a college for three years; studied law. was admitted to the bar; soon afterwards elected judge of the county court of Washington county, and served four years; elected to the state senate and served four years ; elected judge ot the city court of Bristol ; resigned in 1895 and resumed the practice of law ; elected as a Democrat to the fifty-sixth and fifty-sev- enth congresses (March 4, 1899-March 3, 1903) ; member of the state corporation commission and a resident of Richmond, \'irginia, 1915.

Richmond, James Buchanan, born at Tur- key Cove, Lee county, Virginia, February 27, 1842, son of Jonathan Richmond, state senator and general of militia, and Mary Dickinson, his wife. He attended the local schools and was for eight months a student at Emory and Henry College. At the age of nineteen he entered the Confederate army, in June, 1861, as orderly sergeant, and became captain of Company A, Fiftieth Regiment. Virginia Infantry; was promoted to majnr. and later was given the colonelcy of the

Sixty-fourth Regiment, mounted infantry, and served till the end of the war. For eight years after the war he was a merchant at Jonesville, Virginia. Meantime he studied law, and took a sixty days' course in the summer law school of Profes.sor John B. Minor, was admitted to the bar, and took up the practice of his profession. In 1873 he was elected as a Democrat to the legis- lature. In 1878 he was elected to the forty- sixth congress (March 4, 1879-March 3, 1881). In 1885 he was elected judge of the county court of Scott county, and he was a member of the Virginia constitutional con- vention of 1901-1902. In i8g6 he opposed Bryan on the silver question, voting for Pal- mer and Buckner, and in 1900 he voted for McKinley on the money issue. He married (first) Lizzie Duncan, and (second) Kate Mori son.

Ridgway, Robert, born in \'irginia ; pur- sued classical studies ; claimed to have been elected to the fortieth congress, but not ad- mitted to his seat ; elected as a Conservative to the forty-first congress; died in Cool Well, Virginia, October 17, 1869.

Rixey, John Franklin, born in Culpeper county, Virginia, August i, 1854, son of Presley M. Rixej' and Mary H. Jones, his wife. He attended the public schools and Bethel Academy, then entering the Uni- versity of Virginia, from which he graduated in law. Admitted to the bar in 1875. ^e en- gaged in practice at Culpeper, and from 1879 to 1891 served as commonwealth's attorney. In 1896 he was elected as a Democrat to the fifty-fifth congress, and was re-elected for five succeeding terms, embracing a period of twelve years. In his third congressional term he strongly advocated placing Con-