Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/547

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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officers' quarters, the library, containing about ten thousand volumes, and all the apparatus and instruments of the various departments of the school, were burned by order of General David Hunter, command- ing the United States army, at that time operating in the valley of Virginia. In Oc- tol)er, 1865. when the wrath of the nation had subsided and peace was restored, the institute was reopened. Buildings and equipment were rapidly restored and the school entered upon an era of prosperity that has been continuous to the present time, when, provided with the most modern a})pliances in all of its many departments, which are housed in specially constructed buildings, and with all provisions for the health, comfort, and convenience of its stu- dents, the Virginia Military Institute stands in the front rank of similar institutions in the country.

In all the professions and vocations of life, the men trained at the Virginia Mili- tary Institute have won for themselves honorable distinction. The illustrious rec- ord of services rendered by her sons during the civil. Spanish and Philippine wars has established the reputation of the school upon an enduring foundation. Upon the roll of her academic staff are to be found the names of Stonewall Jackson, Matthew F. Maury, John M. Brooke, Crutchfield, Gil- ham. Massie, Madison, Blair, Washington, Williamson. Lee, Colston, Preston and Smith. The number of her matriculates is six thousand five hundred and one, of whom two thousand two hundred and fifty-one have become full graduates.

Such is the school of which General Ed- ward \V. Nichols has for the past seven years been superintendent. From the past he received a legacy of honored traditions and memories, and, observing these with a reverence born of love for the Virginia Mili- tary Institute, through his progressive spirit and his advanced educational views he has done much to render permanent the truth of the prophecy of General Robert E. Lee, written from Camp Petersburg, July 4, 1864, when that commander received news of the destruction of the institute: "I have grieved over the destruction of the Military Insti- tute. But the good that has been done to the country cannot be destroyed, nor can its name or fame perish. It will rise stronger than before, and continue to diffuse its bene-

fits to a grateful people. '^ * '^ Its prosper- ity T consider certain."

Samuel M. Janney. The Janneys of Vir- ginia descend from Thomas Janney, of Styall. England, and Bucks county, Penn- sylvania, born in England, 1632, died in Cheshire, England, February 12, 1697. He was a member of the Society of Friends and came to Pennsylvania with wife, Margaret, four sons and two servants in the "En- deavor." arriving in the Delaware in 1683. He was a member of the provincial council, 1684, 1685 and 1686. and again in 1691, and one of the justices of peace for Bucks county. He was a member of the Falls monthly meeting, being first of record in Bucks county, 12 mo. 6, 1683. He was a member of Philadelphia quarterly meeting, from them obtaining permission to visit England. He made his will and in 1695 ^^~ turned to England, where he engaged in the work of the ministry until his death. He left children: Jacob, married and left issue ; Thomas, Abel and Joseph ; two chil- dren died young. From these sprang a nu- merous family, mostly located in Pennsyl- vania, Maryland, Virginia and Ohio, many of them noted men. Among these may be mentioned : Thomas Janney, a lieutenant in the Continental army ; Phineas Janney, the wine merchant of Alexandria, and friend of Henry Clay ; his nephew. Samuel Mc- Pherson Janney. the Quaker author, his- torian and preacher ; John Janney, who, as president of the Virginia convention, used his best endeavors to hold his state in the Union, and as delegate to the AMiig conven- tion at Harrisburg advocated the nomina- tion of Henry Clay for the presidency ; Johns Hopkins, the founder of the university and hospital bearing his name at Baltimore ; Emerson Hough, author and magazine writer; Bellamy Storer. diplomat, and Israel ^J^egg. captain of Fulton's first steamboat, the "Clermont."

The line of descent to Samuel M. Janney, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, is through Joseph, the youngest son, whose son Jacob settled in Loudoun county, Virginia, in 1745, an elder of the Society of Friends. A de- scendant, John Janney. grandfather of Sam- uel M., was a merchant of Alexandria, where he died. He married Marguerite Tyson, of Baltimore, a descendant of the Tyson fam- ily, early settlers of Germantown, Pennsyl-