Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/327

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAniY

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and profit. He was held in the highest esteem as a Biblical and Shakesperian scholar, his conversation teeming with apt quotations from both sources. He received many honors during his long career, but none more pleasing to him than his honor- ary membership in the Phi Beta Kappa fra- ternit)-, an honor conferred by \\'illiam and Mary, the mother chapter of all. Ever a believer that "the worship of the Divine Manhood of Jesus Christ is the only solution of the problem of life." Mr. Williams, as he advanced in years, believed, with ever in- creasing strength of conviction, the need of faith in the large and eternal purpose that governs the destinies of men and nations. In a recent letter he declared : "Without our holy religion, life is not worth living. The bases of our civilization are the Old Testament, with the great seal of the Ten Commandments, and the New, with the great seal of the Lord's Prayer."

A Democrat in politics, he never held any public office, but no duty pertaining to good citizenship was neglected. He gave to the state, stalwart sons who have worked with him and taken from his shoulders the bur- dens of business and vie with eacli other in exemplifying the teachings and virtues of their honored father.

Mr. Williams married. October 13, 1S64, Maria Ward Skelton, a great-granddaughter of Edmund Randolph, one of the closest of \\'ashington's lifelong associates, his attor- ney-general, and for a time secretary of state. Eight children of this marriage grew to maturity, one, a daughter, dying in youth- ful womanhood, and in her memory arose Richmond ^Memorial Hospital. In 1914 was celebrated the golden wedding of the par- ents. To few men is it given to see so per- fect a consummation of their life work. Per- sonally honored by all, this veteran citizen of such marked personality and consistent life, saw his city prosperous, his country united, his church triumphant, his sons in prominent, honored positions, and his own life overflowing with blessings. And amid it all he wrote: "^^'ithout our holy religion, life is not worth living." It is this high estimate of the value of the Christian re- ligion that made him the wise and useful man he was.

On the day following his death the "Rich- mond News-Leader" said, editoriallv:

Mr. Williams was a man of robust mind, of ro- bust character, of rubust thought, the influences of which touched a responsive and quickening chord in every sphere in which he moved or his activities were exerted, whether business, social or relig- ious. Pure of life, inflexible in integrity of pur- pose, warm and generous of heart, charitable in impulse and deed, public-spirited in the fullest sense of the term, and unafraid save of doing wrong, he measured up to the stature and rounded out the proportions of a model citizen. Possessed of a broad, liberal education, gifted with a naturally clear and avid intellect, which was refined and cultivated by constant reading and study and com- munion with the ancient and modern classics and the Book of Books. Mr. Williams was an orna- ment to any scholarly circle in contact with which he was thrown. He was no less a Latinist and a Grecian to the hour of his last ilhiess than he was when he left the halls of the University of Vir- ginia with his A. M. degree. His knowledge of the humanities, of the great English standards in literature and history, and of the Scriptures, was wonderful. His faculty for applying their gems in private conversation, and even in discussion of practical business questions, was marvelous. It was in recognition of his attainments and pursuits in these fiflds that Washington and Lee Univer- sity conferred upon him several years ago "causa honoris." the degree of Doctor of Letters, a dis- tinction no other man of purely commercial voca- tion enjoyed from that institution. Mr. Williams was a wise business and moral counselor, an ever- dependable, loyal, and unselfish friend, and a Chris- tian gentleman in all that noblest of triliutes sig- nifies. Thnu shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart and with all thy soul and with all they mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first and the great commandment. And the sec- ond is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. These commandments of his Master were enshrined in the heart and soul and mind of John Langbourne Williams. That no man in the community ever strove more steadfastly to exem- plify them in his daily walks and intercourse thou- sands can testify. His life was a lamp to the feet and a light to the path of his generation. May that lamp and that light continue to shed their rays no less guidingly now that his patriarchial form shall be seen among us no more and his spirit has passed to a glorified reward! Such must be the hope and the trust of all who were blessed with intimate association with Iiim.

Ennion Gifford Williams, M. D. Of dis- tinguished ancestry. Dr. Williams has added t(i the honor in which the name is held in Richmond by his untiring efforts in behalf of public health. His grandfather. John ^^'il- liams. came to Virginia about 1820, was a luisiness man of ]5rorninence in Richmond, and his honored father. John L. \\'illiams (fi. v.). is yet a resident of Richmond. John Williams married .Sianna Dandridge, daugh- ter of William and granddaughter of Judge Hartholomew Dandridge, whose sister was