Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/327

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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inent member of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, and served for some time on the board of directors of that important body.

In spite of his prominence in business and financial circles, Air. Beveridge has by no means confined his attention and energy to this department of activity. This temp- tation, only too often yielded to by the bril- liant captains of industry today, with a con- sequent narrow^ing of their sympathies, has never been a weakness of Mr. Beveridge, whose interests and sympathies are of too broad and vital a character to sufifer them- selves to be eclipsed in that fashion. He has always maintained a lively regard for all the aspects of life in his native city and state, and is an active participant in many of its departments. He is a member of the Democratic party and takes a keen interest in all political and social questions agitating the country today, whether they be of national or merely local application.

Mr. Beveridge married, December 23, 1886, in Richmond, Jennie Fox, a native of that place. Mrs. Beveridge was a member of a well known Maryland family, her par- ents having come thence to Virginia in the year 1861. Her father was Charles James Fox, a native of Baltimore, his father's name appearing upon the well known monument as one of the old defenders of that city. He was a very able engineer, and a prominent builder of boats and ships. His removal to Richmond occurred just at the outbreak of the civil war, and his expert knowledge be- came at once of double value. His coming to Virginia had been for the purpose of taking charge of the construction of certain war vessels for the Confederacy, and in this capacity and many others his skill was called into requisition during the continu- ance of hostilities. xA.mong other feats of his was the construction of the celebrated poontoon bridge across the James river at Richmond, for the use of General Johnson's army. There have been no children born to Air. and Airs. Beveridge. They are mem- bers of the Episcopal church, and are active in the support of their church and the many benevolences existing in connection there- with.

Frank Lee Costenbader, D. D. S., M. D.

The father of Dr. Frank Lee Costenbader. a prominent dental practitioner of Richmond,

Virginia, was 'William H. Costenbader, a native of Pennsylvania, who founded his line in Virginia, and with the troops from that state, fought in the Confederate cause against the army of the Union, while his brothers were soldiers of the northern forces. Several of his seven children con- tinue their residence in Virginia, loyal to the state of their father's adoption and their birth, Virginians in love for and pride in their home.

William H. Costenbader, son of Henry and Caroline (Koch) Costenbader, was born near Alauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, and re- sided there until he was a youth of seven- teen years, removing then to Virginia, and settling in Westmoreland county. His call- ing was that of a millwright, and in West- moreland county he became the proprietor of a general store and owner and operator of a mill that was formerly the possession of George Washington. The war between the states found him enlisted in Company E, Fifty-fifth Regiment Virginia Volunteer Infantry, at Tappahannock, Virginia. He served under Captains J. B. Jett, Jim Whar- ton and W. E. Baker; Colonel Mallory, of Tappahannock ; brigade. Heath's, Field's and Walker's ; A. P. Hill's division ; Stone- wall Jackson corps ; commander-in-chief, Robert E. Lee. In the Confederate service he experienced many of the thrilling adven- tures and misfortunes that fall to a soldier's lot, being wounded in action, taken prisoner by the enemy, and confined in a Alaryland military prison. Poor sanitary conditions, lack of sufficient nourishment, and careless treatment by his captors, resulted in a se- vere attack of typhoid fever, from which he happily recovered after a long time. A de- tailed account of his military experience during the war is as follows : In prison at Point Lookout, while loading logs used in building a mess house for the soldiers, he made his escape to the banks of the Poto- mac. There he found an old canoe and one oar, and with this equipment he paddled across the Potomac river, reaching his family in \\'estmoreland county, \Trginia, safely. He immediately reported to the authorities and at once resumed active service. When his regiment went into the third day's fight at Gettysburg, he was commissioned by his colonel to follow the colors, and should the color bearer fall, see to it that the colors were brought from the field. The color bearer