Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/219

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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contest proved himself a most worthy foe- man.

Colonel Duford in 1854 married Emily W. Townes, of Pittsylvania county, Virginia, cind their daughter Emily is now Mrs. Clement Manly, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 1872 he married Kate A. VVortham, of Richmond, \'irginia. They had one daughter, Katie T. Buford. Some years later Colonel Buford married his pres- ent wife, Mrs. Mary Cameron Strother (nee Ross), by whom he has three children: Al- gernon Sidney. Jr., Mary Ross (now ?ilrs. Frederick E. Nolting, of Richmond, \^ir- ginia, and \\'illiam Erskine Buford.

In the successive official positions which he has filled. Colonel Buford has always been conspicuously considerate, courteous and kindly, alike to men of low or high de- gree. While he has held himself under the strictest obligations to render justice to all those with whom he has dealt, and has held his whole life subject to the fine old maxim, fiat justitia. mat coelnni. yet he has been liberal in his gifts, and his charities have been limited only by the length of his purse and by the opportunities presented him. His many friends feel that a life work like his, reaching to an old age which has already passed four-score, furnishes an example to young Virginians, and to all who know the facts of this life of active service.

Edgar Douglas Newman. To Judge Ed- gar Douglas Newman has come prominence m the profession that he has made his, that of law, while he is known, not only in his own locality, but throughout the state of \'irginia, through his interest and activity in numerous industrial and financial institu- tions and his relation to the noted Randolph- Macon system of educational institutions. Professionally and in business and private life he is highly regarded as a gentleman of the finest attributes, one whose years have brought him more than material prosperity and success, the respectful consideration of his fellows. He is a descendant of a family old in Virginia history, son of Benjamin Pennybacker Newman, born at Liberty Furnace, Virginia, in 1822, died in 1902.

Benjamin Pennybacker Newman was an iron manufacturer, and during the civil war operated his plant for the Confederate gov- ernment, consigning to them his entire out- put. After his retirement from this industry he engaged in agriculture, so continuing

until his death at the advanced age of eighty years. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John T. Hickman, his wife born in Burling- ton, West Virginia, in 1823, now living in Woodstock, Virginia.

Edgar Douglas Newman, son of Benjamin Pennybacker and Elizabeth (Hickman) Newman, was born in Woodstock, Shenan- doah county, \'irginia, March 26, 1854. His education was begun in the private schools of his birthplace, after which he attended Woodstock Academy and high school, of v.-hich Professor Salyards was the head. In 1871 he became a student in Randolph- Macon College, remaining there for two terms, after which he enrolled in the Vir- ginia [Military Institute, where he was grad- uated in 1876. His scholastic standing dur- ing his youth was always high, and upon his graduation from this last-named institution he took first honors in his class. While studying civil engineering he taught school for one year, and then became a student at law in the office of Moses Walton, an attor- ney of Woodstock, Virginia, gaining admis- sion to the bar of Virginia in 1878.

Nine years after his entry into the legal profession I\Ir. Newman was elected judge of the Shenandoah county court, holding his seat u])on the bench of that court until Janu- arv I, i8g8. In the twelve years that passed Judge Newman had gained a reputation as a judge fearless in the interpretation of the law, everv opinion that had come from his court bearing the stamp of a masterly mind thoroughly versed in the intricacies of the law and a desire to have justice adminis- tered to the last degree. Attorneys of the county know him as a jurist courteous and forbearing, and many of those of the }-ounger school remember with gratitude an encouraging word spoken or a helpful sug- gestion offered at a time when such good- will and aid were most needed.

In financial circles he is known as the re- organizer of the old Shenandoah County Bank, of which he was a director, obtaining for this bank in 1898 a national bank charter, under which it has since operated, Mr. New- man becoming its president in 1900, at the change in control. The Strausburg Bank, a private institution organized in 1890, owes its life to his activities, and was organized in 1908 as the Massanetten National Bank.

He is, as previously stated, connected with the Randolph-Macon system of educational institutions, holding the position of presi-