Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 3.djvu/329

 PROMINENT PERSONS

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soldiers in the field. In October, 1865, he was elected president of the Richmond & Danville Railroad Company. This position he held for upwards of twenty years, and during his administration he saw this rail- road enlarged, under his active direction, from about two hundred miles to about two tb.ousand miles. He removed early in 1860 to Richmond, and in 1887 he was elected to the house of delegates from that city. He always took an earnest and active interest in agriculture, and in the commercial and /■laterial development of the state, and was for years president of the Virginia Board of Agriculture. His first wife was Emily W. Townes, of Pittsylvania county. His sec- ond wife was Kate A. W'ortham, of Rich- mond. \'irginia. His last wife was Mrs. Mary Cameron Strother, iicc Ross.

Lupton, Nathaniel Thomas, born in Fred- crick county, X'irginia, December 19. 1830; graduated at Dickinson College in 1849; spent two years in Heidelberg, specializing in chemistry under Bunsen, then returned to the United States. In 1857 he was elect- ed professor of chemistry and geology at Randolph-Macon College, and in 1858 re- signed to accept a like chair at the Southern University, Greensborough, Alabama. In 1871 he resigned to accept the presidency of the University of Alabama, with the chair or chemistry. Three years later he was chosen professor of chemistry in \'anderbilt University, also dean of the faculty, and continued eleven years, devoting a great deal of attention in seeking to improve eco- nomic and sanitary conditions in Nashville and the state. In 1865 he was appointed state chemist of Alabama, and professor of chemistrv in the .\s;ricultural College at

Auburn. He received the degree of Doctor oi Medicine from Vanderbilt University and Doctor of Laws from the University of Ala- bama in 1875. He held important positions in a number of scientific societies ; was vice- president of the American Chemical Society in 1880, chairman of the chemistry section of the American Association for the Ad- vancement of Science in 1877, and vice- president of the Association in 1880. In 1880 he published "The Elementary Princi- ples of Scientific Agriculture," a work of enduring value.

Lucas, Daniel B., born at Charlestown, Virginia (now West Virginia), March 16, 1836, son of William Lucas, congressman from Virginia. In infancy he sustained a fall, causing a permanent spinal difficulty. He went from, an academy to the UniA'er- sHy of Virginia, v\diere he remained four vtars, and after graduation studied law under Judge John \\'. Brook, and entered upon practice in 1859, at his native place. The next year he located in Richmond, and was there when the civil war broke out. He \\as given a position on the staff of Gen. Henry A. Wise, in June, 1861, with whom he served throughout the valley campaign until October. On June i, 1864 he ran the blockade to Canada, in order to assist in the defence of Captain John Yates Beall (q. v.), a college friend, in his trial as a spy. Captain Beall's trial was conducted by the f.inious New York lawyer, John P. Brady, the l-"ederal department commander. Gen- eral John A. Dix. refusing to allow Mr. Lucas to appear in the case. Mr. Lucas re- mained in Canada for some months, and while there wrote his famous poem, "The Land Where ^^'e W'ere Dreaming." which