Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/108

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

tober 17, 1869; married Lulu Simmerly, no issue. 2. Florence May, born July 23, 1872 ; became the wife of Harry E. Carter; one child. Mary J. 3. Bessie A., born in Bristol (Goodson), May 2^. 1875: became the wife of L. O. Stickley : one child, Florence Vir- ginia.

Thomas Harlan Lion. The family of which Thomas Harlan Lion, of Manassas, X'irginia, is a member, resembles other "V'ir- ginia families in its English origin, although in point of length of American residence there is great dissimilarity.

Thomas William Lion, father of Thomas Harlan Lion, was born in London, England, in 1837, and after coming to the United States devoted a large part of his time to the perfection of inventions upon which he was working, his mechanical genius and talent strongly developed. After the death of his parents he journeyed to Peru, South America, there obtaining from the Peruvian government a guano concession, operating the same until a successful revolution in- augurated a new regime, the new political party confiscating his property and regrant- ing to some one who had been instrumental in the overthrow of the deposed ruler. Mr. Lion, his business prospects thus completely demolished, returned to the L^nited States. Rumors of internal difficulties in the United States had reached him in his South Amer- ican home, but he did not understand the gravity until his arrival, when he organized the "Light Horse Artillery of New York" and enlisted in the Union service, in the battle of Antietam being injured by the bursting of a shell. He attained the rank of major in the service, and was a member of the staff of General Burnside at the battle of Fredericksburg. Thomas William Lion married Sarah S. \\'illiams, born in 1839, died in 191 1, three of her brothers, William C., John, and James serving in the Confed- eiate army in the war between' the states. The Williams family is an old one in Vir- ginia, and for many years was connected with the "Court of Records" clerk of Prince William county, a political division at that time comprising Fairfax, Fauciuier and Lou- doun counties, a relation that had its be- ginning as early as 1797. Although not in- fluencing the history of the Lions in any respect, this narrative would be indeed in- complete if it failed to mention the romantic

touch in the marriage of Sarah S. Williams, a loyal daughter of the Confederacy, to Alajor Thomas W. Lion, an officer of the Union army, whom she met at a White House reception in \\'ashington during the course of the civil war, the union resulting from this meeting fully showing the impo- tcncy of patrioti,«m in conflict with two young hearts attracted across a barrier of jn'ejudice and distrust.

Thomas Harlan Lion, son of Thomas William and Sarah S. (Williams) Lion, was born in the District of Columbia, July 31, 1866, and after attending the public schools of Prince William county, Bristol, Tennes- .'iee, and Orange county, Virginia, com- pleted his studies under private instruction. I'ccoming a student in a law office he was afterward admitted to the bar of the state of \"irginia, and has since been engaged in general practice, political preference having frequently been his lot, his political record one of usefulness and honor. He was elected to the office of mayor of Manassas when twenty-one years of age, probably the youngest chief executive ever holding office in that place, and was five times re-elected, also there holding the position of justice of the peace. In 191 1 Mr. Lion was common- wealth attorney for Prince William county, and throughout four sessions held a seat in the lower house of the Virginia assembly, while a member of that body holding place on numerous important committees, among them the committee on justice. Throughout all of his public service, be it local, county or state-wide, he has given to the office of which he was the incumbent the best of a finely trained mind and the fruits of diligent application, and his popularity among the people with whom he has passed his life and whom he has represented in numer- ous capacities, testifies to the favor his works have found. He is a member of the Bar Association of the Sixteenth \^irginia Judicial District, Virginia State Bar Asso- ciation and holds the Knights Templar and Shriner's degrees in the Masonic order, his lodge being Manassas, No. 182, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and has attained the thirty-second degree in Scottish Rite Masonry. He also belongs to the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows and the Junior Order of LTnited American Mechanics. His political convictions are strongly Demo- cratic, and he is identified with the Protes-