Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/388

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

his kindnesses and charities, although the greater part of the latter was done without jniblic knowledge. His religion was one of l)rightness and faith, epitomized in his ex- ]>ression, "Let us do the best we can. and leave the rest to God," and he made friends and kept peace with those with whom he would fain have disagreed solely because he thought it wrong to be at enmity. Right and justice were in all that he did, and the recognition of the purity of his motives and the correct manner of his life gave him place in the love and affection of all who knew him, a place that could never have been occupied only by the successful man of affairs, but which was gladly opened to him who diffused the true spirit of brotherhood. His death occurred February 25, 1886, and it was to do honor to one who had realized the fullness of manhood that there gathered the throng of whom early mention was made. True are the words inscribed upon the marble shaft which rises above his grave : "Taken in his maturity, his spotless life, hallowed by the charms of exalted vir- tue, lives in the hearts of all who knew him,
 * ind leaves to his descendants the rich in-

heritance of an honored name." He was .-1 thirty-second degree Mason.

Harrison Phoebus married. May 11, 1864, Annie J. Stevens, born January 31, 1839, died August 7, 1906, and he was the father of seven children: i. Charles M., married Sarah Sweeney, and resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 2. Samuel S., married Ida Peddicord, and resides in Dansville, New York. 3. Harrison Cooper, deceased ; mar- ried Catherine Yoder. 4. Frank M., married, as his second wife, Mabel Wilson, and lives in Hanover, Pennsylvania. 5. Annie R., married George K. Vanderslice, and resides in Phoebus, Virginia ; their children are : Dorothea, Harrison Phoebus, Annie, George K., Jr., deceased, James, Emily, Ellis, Helen. 6. Mary, married Robert Van Ness Davis, and lives in Rutland, Vermont. 7. Elsie Ray, lives in New York.

John Weymouth. Norfolk, Elizabeth City and \\'arwick counties, Virginia, have known the family of Weymouth through many generations, the members thereof at an earlier period devoting themselves to the pursuit of agriculture. The line of John \\'eymouth, of Hampton, well known for his activity in legal circles, l^^is been for the

most part resident in Elizabeth City county, where early records make frequent mention of the family. Prior to 1700 Robert Wey- mouth is mentioned in relation to deeds re- corded in the office of the county clerk ; John Weymouth's will was probated in 1743, its maker a soldier of the revolutionary war and the father of John, William, Robert, and James ; William Weymouth's will was pro- bated in 1766; and John Weymouth's estate was reported on by the county appraisers in 1789. William Weymouth, great-grand- father of John Weymouth, of Hampton, also resided in Elizabeth City county, and was the father of John Weymouth, born in 1824, who died from wounds received in the war between the states.

(I) John Weymouth, grandfather of John \\'eymouth, was engaged in farming in Eliz- abeth City county during his early man- hood, afterward taking up his residence in Portsmouth, where he was employed as ship joiner in the navy yard. The first engage- ments of the civil war found him a soldier in the Confederate States army, a member of Grimes' battery, in which he served until wounded at the battle of Alalvern Hill, July 2, 1862. Blood poisoning added to the grav- ity of his injuries, and his death occurred just one week later, July 9, 1862. his life one of the many sacrifices offered by Virginia during that four years of strife. John We}'- mouth married Mary Gray Drury, of War- wick county, Virginia.

(II) William James Weymouth, son of John and Mary Gray (Drury) Weymouth, was born in Portsmouth, \^irginia, March 28, 1852, died in Hampton, March 6, 1914. His education begun in the public schools, was completed in the private school main- tained by L. P. Slater, and he began his business life as a clerk. This employment he discontinued to learn the carpenter's trade, and he afterward made his home in Hampton. William James Weymouth was a prominent and highly regarded citizen of Hampton, and was a member of the first council elected in 1889 under the new town laws. For twenty-eight years he served as chief of the fire department, and in number- less ways was closely identified with the de- velopment and progress of Flampton. He was a charter member of Wyoming Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men, also belong- ing to the Knights of Pythias, was a Demo- crat in political belief, and affiliated with the