Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/743

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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Richmond, Virginia, to be in the far west, Missouri, his family is an eastern one, his father's business having taken the family to that part of the country. Mr. Dula's place in the business world is as head of the West- moreland Candy Company, a concern whose products have a country-wide popularity and sale, as director of the American Na- tional Bank, and as a director of the Cham- ber of Commerce.

His father, Robert Byron Dula, was born in Lenoir, Caldwell county, North Carolina, in October, 1847. ^^ was educated in the schools of that region, and although of in- sufficient age to enlist in the Confederate army at the occurrence of war between the states, he became identified with the Home Guards, in which he served until the close of the conflict. He achieved business suc- cess of high order, having for many years been one of the vice-presidents of the Amer- ican Tobacco Company, and now lives re- tired in Tarrytown, New York. Robert Byron Dula married Josephine Carr, born in Wentzville, Missouri, in 1856, living at the present time, and has children : Rena, married Eugene W. Gary, and died aged twenty-eight years; Flora, married AVilliam B. Dean Jr., and lives in St. Louis, Missouri ; Iva, married S. C. Edgar Jr., and resides in St. Louis, Missouri ; Grover Carr, of whom further ; Belva, married Townsend Horner, and resides in New York City; Robert L., married Grace A\^hitman, and lives in Tarry- town, New York.

Grover Carr Dula, son of Robert Byron and Josephine (Carr) Dula, was born in Wentzville, St. Charles county, Missouri, June 7, 1882, and was educated in Smith Academy, St. Louis, Missouri, completing his studies at Andover, Massachusetts. When he was nineteen years of age he formed an association with the American Cigar Company, remaining in the employ of this concern until 1912, in which year he moved to Richmond and established the Westmoreland Candy Company. The vast business conducted by this company is founded upon one product of national repu- tation, "Peconut Crisp," the demand for which is far in excess of that for any other brand of candy manufactured by the com- pany. This institution has had a flourish- ing career under Mr. Dula's leadership, the management of the business requiring his

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whole time and almost undivided attention. The Westmoreland Candy Company, in placing upon the market its various assort- ments of confectionery, has made its pro- ducts of a uniformly high grade, purity and quality prevailing in all dainties bearing its mark. Mr. Dula is otherwise connected with business and financial interests. in Richmond as a director of the American Na- tional. Bank and as a director of the Cham- ber of Commerce. His clubs are the Coun- try, Commonwealth and Rotary, and he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Mr. Dula married, in Petersburg, Vir- ginia, March 29, 1905, Faith Hope, born in Norfolk, Virginia, daughter of Rev. Herbert Meredith and Emma (Vinton) Hope, her mother now living in Petersburg, Virginia. The late Rev. Herbert Meredith Hope was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, and attached to the Virginia con- ference.

Cornelius Colton Chapin. The various spellings of this surname in the early rec- ords of England and America are Chapen, Chapan. Chapinne, Chalpin and Chapin. Several explanations of the origin of the name, all plausible, have been given. That of one of the family. Rev. R. D. Chapin, of Allegan, Michigan, given on authority of 3 well educated Swiss physician, who had for- merly lived in France and had pursued phil- ological studies, is the most interesting and probably the most authentic. His version is thus : Chapin, one of the oldest and most honorably born of the French surnames, dating from the Carlovingian Era, goes back to the tenth century, perhaps earlier. It originated in a feudal encounter in the Middle Ages ; one valorous contestant in the heat of battle exposed his head to the stroke of his enemy's sword, and received a severe slash thereon which laid open his helmet. For his valor and fortitude during the battle he was knighted on the field by his monarch and dubbed "Capinatus" (decorated with a hat) and a coat-of-arms was awarded him — a slashed hat. By the softening process the French employed in all foreign surnames, this name finally became Chapin. The Chapin English coat-of-arms rather lends verifications to this story. Later the family entered England, whence came Deacon