Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/182

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\ IRGIXIA BIOGRAPHY

in 1849, '1 planter, slave owner, man of wealth, influence and education. He mar- ried Abcele (griffin.

(IV) Admiral (2) Tirinkley, son of Ad- miral (i) and Abcele (Griffin) Brinkley, was born in Nansemond county, Virginia, in 1850. The family fortune and estate being sadly impaired by the war of 1861-65. ^^ was compelled to seek his own path m life and after obtaining a good education, in tiie home schools, he located in Portsmouth. He chose a mercantile life, beginning as clerk, but after becoming thoroughly famil iar with business methods and detail, in- terested a partner and became junior part- ner of the wholesale grocery firm, RiddicV c*<: Brinkley, in Norfolk, Virginia. After several years of successful business, this firm was reorganized as a corporation, A. Brinkley & Company, of which Air. Brink- ley is the capable president. He married, in 1876. Laura, daughter of Bassett B. and Elizabeth Jane (Grimes) Warren.

(V) Harry A. Brinkley, only child of .\dmiral (2) and Laura (Warren) Brinkley, was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, April 25, 1877. ol)tained his early education in Portsmouth schools, then attended Norfolk Academy. Later he entered Virginia Mili- tary Institute, leaving there to enter the law school of the University of Virginia. There he pursued a full course of legal study and was graduated LL. B., class of 189Q. After graduation he chose ^Spokane, Wash- ington, as the scene of his first essay in practice, but the attraction of his Virginia home prevailed and after a short but suc- cessful stay in Spokane, he returned home and began practice in Portsmouth. He has won his way at this, one of the strong bars of his native state, and has a most satis- factory practice in all state and federal courts of the district. He is a member of the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Associa- tion and is highly regarded among his pro- fessional brethren. He is a director and attorney of the First National Bank of Portsmouth, and the industrial Loan Cor- poration.

Thr(nigh the patriotic service of his revo- lutionary sire, Ca])tain William Brinkley. he has gained membership in the Sons of the American Revolution ; is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is a Mason, and in political faith is a Demo- crat. In 1907 he was elected cajitain of the

historic "Grimes Battery" of Portsmouth, now known as "Battery C," First Field Ar- tillery. Virginia National Guard. This rank he yet holds, ha\ing been a member of the battery since 1907.

Mr. Brinkley married. October 23, 1901, Mary Thompson, of Baltimore. Maryland, daughter of John and Emma (Williar) Thompson ; she is a direct descendant of Elizabeth Chew and of the Bruces and Bowies, of Maryland.

William Dabney Duke. The Duke family came originally from England, and is typical of the best character of that strong and dominant race, which formed the foundation upon which has since been constructed the composite citizenship of the United States, in safety, thanks to its sterling strength, and has filled our history with most of those great names, associated with the birth and development of the nation.

(I) John Duke, the paternal great-grand- father of William Dabney Duke, the sub- ject of this sketch, was the first of the name to come from the "Mother Country" to America. He settled in Frederick county, \^irginia, in the seventeenth century. One branch later moved to Hanover county, in the same State, and there founded the home which remained for many years that of his descendants.

(H) Thomas Taylor Duke, a son of John Duke, was born in Hanover county, Vir- ginia, and followed the occupation of farm- ing. He married Mary Netherland, and by her had ten children, all of whom are now deceased.

(HI) Francis Johnson Duke, eldest son of Thomas Taylor and Mary (Netherland) Duke, was born in Hanover county, Vir- ginia, in 1842. In his youth he became con- nected with a railroad, and continued in that business for the remainder of his life. At the age of twenty-five years he removed to Richmond, Virginia, and there made his home until his death in December, 1905. Mr. Duke was connected with the telegraph service of the Confederate army, in which he served during the civil war, and was taken pris(Mier and confined at Point Look- out until the close of hostilities in 1865. He became associated with the Richmond, Fred- ericksburg & Potomac railroad, in 1868, and later rose to the position of treasurer. Fran- cis Johnson Duke married Lucy Burton