Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/392

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

gave much time to the charitable institu- tions, being especially interested in the Girl's Orphan Asylum and in the Turney Home for Boys. He lived not for himself alone, but his great heart went out to all who were in distress and he spared no effort to relieve suffering. He was a member of the Masonic order, was a communicant of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, belonged to the various medical societies of the city and state, and was held in the highest esteem among his professional brethren.

Dr. Thoni married (first) Kate Baylor, who bore him two children : Anna Parker and Lucy Lattane, the latter married, Janu- ary 3, 1912, Charles A. Xeft', and has a son, Charles A. (2), born in October, 1912. Dr. Thom married (second) Frances Maria Myers, only child of Frederick and Clara (Samuel) Myers, of Savannah, Georgia, and grandchild of Mordecai Myers, an eminent lawyer and rice planter, owning two planta- tions worked by slave labor. He had seven sons, all of whom served in the Confederate army. Dr. Thom by his second wife had a son, William Alexander, born 1894, who at the time of his death was a most prominent young man, a student at V^irginia Military Institute.

Frederick Alyers was born in Savannah, educated under private tutors and began business life as a cotton broker. Later he became a banker and rose to wealth and prominence in his native city. He married (first) Clara Samuel, the mother of Mrs. Frances M. (Myers) Thom. He married (sec- ond) Caroline Philips, of Washington, D. C., who bore him four children: Eugenia M., married Isaac Mini, children, Isaac (2) and CaroU ; Gratz C, married Mary Appleton, children, George, Frederick and Gratz C.

(2) ; Frederick (2), married Claire ,

child, Randolph ; Henrietta.

Mrs. Frances Maria (Myers) Thom sur- vives her husband, residing in her beauti- ful home, 700 Stockley Garden, Norfolk, de- voting her life to the alleviation of suffer- ing and the relief of the poor. Her bene- factions are many and her work tireless. She is president of the board of managers of the 'Furney Boys' Home, president of the Needle Work Guild and member of many societies, church and social. The institu- tions in which her honored husband was in- terested are her chief concern, yet no call upon her sympathy is unheeded.

Edwin Cabell Palmer. A native of Meck-

lenburg county, Virginia, Mr. Palmer has for the past hiteen years been a resident of Emporia, the capital of Greenesville county, Virginia, where as a lawyer and citizen he has taken high rank. He is a great-grandson of Colonel William Palmer, grandson of Luke Palmer, and son of Wil- liam Palmer, the latter born in Brunswick county, Virginia, April 6, 1846, died on Christmas Lay, 1913. Joseph Palmer en- listed in Company G, Nmth Regiment Vir- ginia Cavalry, Confederate States army, and served as a private until the war closed. He spent his after life engaged in merchan- dising and farming, rating as one of the successful men of his day and one held in high esteem wherever known. He married Fanny Ogburn, born in 1846, who survives him, a resident of Brunswick county, Vir- ginia. She is a daughter of Charles and Jane (Hatchett) Ogburn, of Mecklenburg county, Virginia. Her half-brother, Louis Hite, was a comrade of Joseph M. Palmer in the Ninth Virginia Cavalry, serving dur- ing the war between the states. Children of Joseph William and Fanny (Ogburn) Pal- mer: I. Edwin Cabell, of further mention. 2. Charles L., a student of William and Mary College, graduate Doctor of Medicine of the University of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia, now practicing his profession in Lawrenceville, Virginia ; Dr. Palmer mar- ried Fanny Lucy Ogden, of Mecklenburg county, \ irginia. 3. Joseph William, a farmer on the "old homestead" in Mecklen- burg county, Virginia; married Mary Good- rich, of Brunswick county, Virginia. 4. Fitz Lee, a manufacturer, secretary and treas- urer; married Rena Tunstall, of Emporia, Virginia. 5. David Hunter, a farmer of Brunswick county, unmarried. 6. Sarah Haynie, married W. Withers Miller, of Rich- mond, Virginia. 7. Susan, married Robert Buford, of Lawrenceville, Virginia.

Edwin Cabell Palmer, eldest son of Joseph William and Fanny (Ogburn) Palmer, was born in Mecklenburg county, Virginia, Jan- uary 24. 1876. Until fourteen years of age he attended the local public schools, then spent two years at Brunswick Preparatory School. In 1892 he entered William and Mary College as a state student, continuing there two years. He then became principal of a graded school, taught two years, then in 1897 entered the law department of Wash- ington and Lee University, whence he was graduated Bachelor of Laws, class of 1898.