Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/320

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

ber of the Episcopal church ; and while act- ing in the promotion of the public service and welfare he moves through the regular organization of the Democratic party. He married, in Petersburg, January 15, 1895, Sallie Alexander Hamilton, born in that city, a daughter of Robert P. Hamilton, now de- ceased, and his wife, Lelia T. (Watkins) Hamilton, now residing in Petersburg. Mr. and Mrs. Lassiter are the parents of three daughters: Lelia Hamilton, a student of Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; Mar- garet Parker and Virginia Heath, students of the Petersburg public schools.

J. G. Witcher, a successful young busi- ness man of Danville, has been conducting operations with marked ability and success for a dozen years, and is a true representa- tive of the younger element of business men of the city.

Mr. Witcher established himself in busi- ness in Danville, November 16, 1903, and for some years continued with headquarters on Craghead street. On September 12, 1912, he took possession of his present spacious establishment on Lynn street, where he has a coal trestle and other facilities for handling wood and all species of fuel coal. Lie con- stantly maintains a large stock, and is able to supply the wants of his customers promptly and with a high quality of wares. It has been his invariable custom to meet patrons and all with whom he comes in con- tact in the most courteous manner, and has thus gained popularity with the general pub- lic, to his great advantage. His establish- ment is noted for supplying the full weights of coal, free from foreign matters and im- purities. In the delivery of coal he employs nine wagons and fifteen horses, and under his competent and prompt management the business continues to extend. Mr. Witcher owns considerable real estate in Danville, upon which he has erected buildings, not- ably those on Craghead street occupied by the Virginia City Motor Company, the Na- tional Biscuit Company, Swift & Company's warehouse, and other business establish- ments. Mr. Witcher's success is the reward which ever comes to well-directed endeavor, and his energy, enterprise, close application and honorable methods are appreciated by his patrons and applauded by his friends, whose number is limited only to those who have been so fortunate as to come within his circle.

Richard James Patrick, one of the most prominent and successful merchants of Hampton, Mrginia, and one of the most re- spected figures in the life of the place, is a scion of an old and time-honored house which for many years has made its resi- dence in that part of the state and through long usage has grown identified with its traditions and life.

His grandfather, Richard Patrick, of whom a brief account appears elsewhere in this work, was a successful farmer and the owner of a large and valuable tract in the vicinity of Hampton, and it was here that he reared his large family of eleven children. The eldest of these, John R. Patrick is also noted elsewhere in this work. He was the father of Richard James Patrick of this sketch, and was a successful carpenter and builder in Hampton and took an active part in the civil war, serving in the Confederate army. He was twice married, the first time to Catherine Host, a daughter of Richard Host, by whom he had tliree children: Eve- lyn ; Alonzo A., of whom there is a sketch elsewhere in this work ; and Estella K. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Patrick, Sr. was married in 1866 to Susan Massenburg, a native of Virginia, where she was born July 26, 1830, and to them Richard James was born, the only child of this union.

Richard James Patrick was born July 27, 1868, in the old Tyler mansion at Hampton, and there he spent the years of his child- hood, attending the public schools and gain- ing there a fine liberal education. He was a very bright and energetic lad, always anx- ious to be at work upon some task or other, and this quality has continued with him through his life and is doubtless responsible in no small degree for the success he has won for himself. In 1884, when he was but sixteen years of age, this desire to be up and doing caused him to seek some active emplovment and in this quest he was suc- cessful, securing a position as salesman in the department store of J. F. Rome. Mr. Patrick was undoubtedly born with that particular mental trait — easy to recognize but difficult to define — which is the common possession of successful salesmen the world over, and without which no amount of earn- est effort and application can accomplish great results. In the position which he had taken he found ample opportunity to de- velop this gift, until at the end of five years he was an accomplished salesman, and had