Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/436

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

Lecil Browne, daughter of William B. and Charlotte (Reid) Browne, of Norfolk. Child, Charlotte Reid, born November i, 19 12.

Daniel Dodson Willcox, M. D. Profes- sional circles of Petersburg, Virginia, have had as member for the past decade Dr. Dan- iel Dodson Willcox, who came to special practice in that city from Richmond, where his career as a practitioner was begun. After obtaining his M. D. from the University Col- lege of Medicine and after completing a term of service as interne in a New York institution, Dr. Willcox chose specialized jjractice in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and in those lines has been active since 1904.

Dr. Willcox was born at the old Willcox homestead. Flower de Hundred, on the James river. Prince George county, Virginia, where his ancestors have lived for more than two hundred years, beginning with the occu- pation of Littleberry Willcox and his wife. Dr. Willcox is a grandson of John Poyth- ress and Mary (McGowanJ Willcox, his grandfather passing his entire life on the old estate, where he died in 1856, aged fifty years, the father of John, William, Eliza, Susie and Robert Boiling. Eliza, who mar- ried John (j. Dunn, is the only survivor of these children.

Robert Boiling Willcox, father of Dr. Willcox, and son of John Poythress and Mary (McGowan) Willcox, was born at Flower de Hundred, Prince George county, Virginia, October 6, 1847, ^"d died Novem- ber 9, 1914. his life of sixty-seven years filled with much of professional activity and honorable public service. He was educated for the legal profession, graduating in the law course of the University of Virginia, and for a short time after gaining admission to the bar followed his profession in Pa- ducah, McCracken county, Kentucky. From the end of this period until his death he re- sided on the family estate, his life ending where it began. The need of the Confed- erate States government for men at the front caused him to enlist in the army, and shortly after entering the service he was captured by the enemy and confined for a lengthy period in a military prison at Elmira, New York. Upon his return to the life of a civilian he caught up the broken ends of his professional' practice, and started anew. From extensive service in offices of a local

nature in Prince George county, including those of commonwealth attorney and jus- tice of the peace, he was called to the broader opportunities and increased responsibility of state senator, and for two terms occupied a seat in the upper house of the legislature. His professional record was of the fairest, a deep knowledge of the law, keen perception, and ready speech winning him respectful consideration as an opponent at the bar. In the legislative halls of the state he spoke and voted for measures of whose worth he was convinced, allied always with right and justice; and he was no less faithful in the discharge of minor offices entrusted to his competent care.

Robert Boiling Willcox married Dora Dodson. born in Petersburg, Virginia, Feb- ruary 14, 185 1, who survives him, living at Flower de Hundred with a daughter, Eliza- beth. She is a daughter of Daniel Dodson and his wife, Elizabeth (Mason) Dodson, both natives of Petersburg, Virginia, Dan- iel Dodson for many years a banker of that place, where he died in 1879, aged fifty-five years. Daniel and Elizabeth (Mason) Dod- son were the parents of eight children, of whom the survivors are: i. Laura, resides in Petersburg, unmarried. 2. Dora, of previ- ous mention, married Robert Boiling Will- cox. 3. Margaret, married George W. Pe- gram, deceased. 4. Victoria, lives in Peters- burg, unmarried. 5. Marian, married A. S. Weisiger, of Petersburg, Virginia. Chil- dren of Robert Boiling and Dora (Dodson) W'^illcox: I. W^illiam. died aged twenty years. 2. John P., a salesman, died Febru- ary 2^/, 1914. 3. Elizabeth, lives at the old home with her mother. 4. Dr. Daniel D., of whom further. 5. Robert B., a lawyer of Petersburg. 6. Lalor R., a civil engineer of Fredericksburg, \^irginia. 7. Dennis H., a lawyer of Petersburg.

Dr. Daniel Dodson Willcox, son of Rob- ert Boiling and Dora (Dodson) Willcox, was born at Flower de Hundred, Prince George county. \^irginia. and spent his boy- hood on the estate that has for so long been a family possession. Until he w^as nine years of age he attended the schools of the county, then began his studies in Wood- bury Forest School, after which he enrolled at the Episcopal Male Academy at Houston, Virginia. He completed his preparatory courses at this institution, subsequently matriculating at the University College of