Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 3.djvu/201

 PROMINENT PERSONS

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under the titles: "Juda"s Jewels: a Study ill the Hebrew Lyrics," and "'The Story of the Nazarene in Annotated Paraphrase." It was due to the personal efforts of Dr. Davis that the local Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation has attained its present strong foun- dation. Dr. Davis married, November 25, 1857, Ella C. Hunt, of Albany, Georgia. Children : Noah Wilson, Marella, Archibald Hunt, Clara Bell.

Rives, Alfred Landon, born in Paris, France, March 25, 1830, son of William Cabell and Judith (Walker) Rives; at the time of his birth his father, who was among the most distinguished citizens of the Old Dominion, was the United States minister to France, and he also filled the same posi- tion in 1848 ; Alfred L. Rives was taught by private tutors until fourteen years of age, then became a student of Concord Acad- emy, and at the age of sixteen entered the Virginia Military Institute, was graduated in two years, being sixth in a class of twen- ty-four ; being proficient in engineering, he determined to adopt that as a profession, and in 1848 entered the University of Vir- ginia, where he remained one session, then accompanied his father to France ; after a year devoted to the study of mathematics and French, he successfully passed an ex- amination for entrance in the Government Engineering School of France, "Ecole des ponts et Chaussees ;" after graduation in 1854 he was offered a position upon the great French railroad, "Du Nord." but in- stead returned to the United States, where ht served in the engineering corps of the Virginia Midland railway; later accepted a position in Washington under Captain M. V. Meigs, of the United States Engineering

Corps, where he served for one year as as- sistant engineer of the United States Capi- tol and Post Office buildings ; was appointed secretary of the interior under President Pierce, to report upon the best location for a bridge across the Potomac, and directed to present details and estimates therefor; this rtport was published in the "Congressional Records," in 1857, and attracted favorable comment : was selected to make calculations and estimates for the Cabin John bridge, which was built under his personal super- vision ; upon the secession of Virginia he returned to his native state, and three days later received the commission of captain of engineers from the state of Virginia, and was directed to report to Colonel Talcott, at that time chief engineer of the state ; was assigned to duty on the lower Virginia peninsula, and upon the resignation of Colo- nel Talcott he was soon made acting chief engineer of the state of Virginia ; later he was appointed acting chief of the Engineer Bureau of the Confederate States, which position he held until the close of the war; he was promoted successively to be major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel of engineers ; after the war he was offered a professor- ship in several institutions of learning, and also a good architectural position under the United States government, all of which he declined, preferring to try to recover his fortunes in Richmond as an engineer and architect; in 1868 was division engineer of the Chesapeake & Ohio railroad ; in 1870 was appointed chief engineer of the Mobile &- Birmingham railroad ; engineer in charge of the South & North Alabama railroad and part of the Louisville & Nashville system, which he completed in 1873; h^ was offered by Gen. Sherman, for the Khedive of Egypt.