Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 3.djvu/183

 PROMINENT PERSONS

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London, and there enlisted the support of the most influential of the English bank- ing houses. This transaction augmented tlie success of the already wealthy house, and in 1854, when he retired, Mr. Corcor- an's property was estimated in millions. Of his memorable benefactions to the public welfare, the most notable is the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington. He was also the founder of the Oak Hill Cemetery, of Georgetown and the Louise Home for Needy Gentlewomen; while his gifts to var- ious colleges and universities, churches and theological seminaries, and to various char- itable institutions abundantly testify to his spirit of genuine philanthropy. He is said to have spent in this way over $5,000,000. To the University of Virginia he gave, be- tween the years 1870 and 1876, sums of money amounting to $6,000. of which $1,000 was devoted to the needs of the chemical department, and $5,000 to the uses of the university library. He died in Washington City, February 24. 1888.

Lay, Henry Champlin, a native of Vir- ginia, born December 6, 1823; attended pri- vate schools of Richmond, and the Univer- sity of Virginia, from which he graduated in 1843 with the degree of Master of Arts ; then entered the Episcopal Theological Seminary at Alexandria, and was ordained deacon by Bishop Meade in 1846; went to Huntsville, Alabama, in 1848, and was ordained priest by Bishop Cobbs, and be- came rector of the Church of the Nativity o^ that city ; was elected rfiissionary bishop of Arkansas and Indian Territory, and was c<3nsecrated in St. Paul's Church. Richmond, in October, 1859, at the time that the general convention met in that city; in 186S the

diocese of Ivlaryland was divided, and in 1S69 Bishop Lay was translated from his missionary diocese to the diocese of Easton, which consisted of the eastern shore of Maryland ; he was a learned churchman and an eloquent preacher ; the degree of Doctor oi Divinity was conferred upon him by Ho- bart College and by William and Mary Col- lege, and upon his visit to the Lambeth con- ference held in England after the civil war, he was given the degree of Doctor of Laws by the University of Cambridge ; he wrote considerable on theological subjects, among the most notable of his writings being "Studies in the Church ;" he died in Easton, Maryland, September 17, 1885.

Waddell, Joseph Addison, was born at Staunton, Virginia, March 19, 1823, son of Dr. Addison Waddell and Catherine Ann Boys, his wife, grandson of Rev. James Waddell, D. D., known as the "Blind Preacher," and great-grandson of Thomas and Janet Waddell, who in 1739 emigrated to Pennsylvania from county Down, Ire- land. His father, Dr. Addison Waddell, was born at "Hopewell," April 19, 1785, gradu- ated in medicine at the University of Penn- sylvania, located in Staunton in 1809, and died there in 1855. His mother, Catherine Ann (Boys) Waddell, was a descendant of Capt. Nathan Boys, of the Pennsylvania navy in 1775, city commissioner of Phila- aelphia from 1793 to 1797, also represented Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania legislature. His only son, John Boys, a native of Ches- ter, Pennsylvania, came to Staunton, Vir- ginia, in 1789, died in Philadelphia, Novem- ber 20, 1798. He married Anna St. Clair, and their daughter, Catherine Ann, married Dr. Waddell. Joseph A. Waddell obtained