Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/205

 \ IRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

155

Victoria, Australia, the hnn of William Cameron cK: Company, Ltd., was established at Melbourne, under government protection, thus enjoying a rebate of twenty-five cents on each pound of tobacco manufactured in the colony of Victoria. In 1872 the Camer- ons engaged in business at Sidney, New- South \\ ales, under the firm name of Cam- eron Brothers & Company, and this was soon followed by a factory at Adelaide. South Australia, and one at Brisbane, Queensland. About seventy-five per cent, of the tobacco consumed in the Australian colonies was supplied by these firms. Hav- ing achieved phenomenal success in the business world as manager of several large interests, Mr. George Cameron retired from the active course of duties thus involved, and now resides at his beautiful estate "Mount Erin," within the limits of the city of Petersburg, where he finds exercise and relaxation in superintending his green- houses and ample grounds and farm. Al- though deeply engrossed in business for many years, Mr. Cameron did not forget his duty to the public, and during the war with the states volunteered for service in the Confederate army, and was taken prisoner in the engagement before Petersburg, June 9, 1864. With others he was conveyed to Point Lookout, Maryland, and later trans- ferred to Elmira, New York. There he was paroled and returned to his home, by way of Savannah, Georgia, in October, 1864. Mr. Cameron has long been one of the most active and influential members of the Pres- byterian Church South, and while he is not a voter, he has always been a firm supporter of the Democratic party. Since 1866 he has been identified with the Masonic fraternity, whose benevolent principles are an exempli- fication of his own character.

He married (firstj Alarch 13, 18O1, Helen Dunn, daughter of Thomas R. Dunn, of Oakhill, Virginia, and his wife, Helen (Spooner) Dunn. She died in 1883, and Mr. Cameron married (second) July 19, 1886, Delia Pegram, a native of Petersburg, daughter of R. G. and Helen (Burrough) Pegram. She is now mistress of his elegant home at Petersburg, which is the abode of hospitality and refined taste. There were six children of the first marriage : Alexan- der, now deceased ; Ella, now widow of Simon D. Gilbert, of Harrisburg, Pennsyl- vania; William, now manager of the British

Australian Tobacco Ccjmpany of Australia ; (leorgc, deceased, who was president of the National Bank of Petersburg; Helen, re- siding unmarried at home. Children of the second marriage : Richard, died at the age of sixteen ; Delia P. and Margaret Burroughs, residing with their parents.

Ernest Linwood Dodson. As proprietor of the Piedmont Tobacco Company, Ernest Linwood Dodson is identified with the in- dustry to which, more than to any other, Danville, Virginia, owes its prosperity and reputation. He entered this field after con- siderable experience in other lines of en- deavor and his success in his business has been the reward of careful, wise and con- servative dealing. He is also the head of the P. B. Gravely Tobacco Company, a con- cern established in 183 1, and a large and flourishing enterprise of Danville. Mr. Dod- son's connection with Virginia is by his business relations, birth and ancestry, his grandfather having been born in Halifax county, coming from that county to Pittsyl- vania county.

(L) Felix Dodson, grandfather of Ernest Linwood Dodson, was a miller and also cul- tivated land of which he was the owner. His death occurred in 1877. He fought in the Confederate army throughout the entire four years of the civil war, participating in many of the most noted engagements of that eventful struggle. He married Eliza- beth M. Ferguson, of Pittsylvania, where she still (1914) lives. Children of Felix and Elizabeth M. (Ferguson) Dodson: Henry Joel, of whom further ; Fanny, died unmar- ried ; Sally, married E. A. VViles, a farmer of Pittsylvania county ; Robert Leonard, a farmer of Pittsylvania county, has held the office of county supervisor, the present rep- resentative of his district in the Virginia state legislature ; Charles W., engaging in the grocery business in Danville, Virginia ; Cornelia, deceased, married Charles Wil- liams, a farmer of Pittsylvania county.

( H ) Henry Joel Dodson, son of Felix and Elizabeth j\L (Ferguson) Dodson, was born in Pittsylvania county, Virginia, in Septem- ber. 185 1. He w-as reared to agricultural occupations and has followed this line all of his life. His present home is on the farm five miles from Danville, which he has raised to a high and profitable state of cultivation. He married (first) March 11, 1874, Betty