Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/433

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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the validity of the present state constitution and its suffrage article, and the suit of Vir- ginia against West \"irginia, which he insti- tuted in the supreme court of the United States for the ascertainment of the propor- tion which West Virginia should pay of the indebtedness of the Old Dominion.

General Anderson is a iine example of the "Old Virginia gentleman" — courtly, cul- tured, courageous, and lovable. He is .a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and has for many years served as a vestry- man, and in the councils of the church. He has been twice married, (first) to Ellen G. Anderson, of Richmond, who died in Janu- ary, 1872, and (second) to Mary Louisa Blair, of Lexington, Virginia. He has had five children, all of whom survive at the present writing. His address is Lexington, Richmond, Virginia.

Charles Minor Blackford was born in Fredericksburg, \'irginia, on the 17th day of October, 1833, the son of William Matthews Blackford and Mary Berkeley Blackford (nee Minor). He was named for his mother's brother. Captain Charles Landon Carter Minor, of the United States army.

Believing earnestly in the obligations imposed by a heritage of good name and clean blood, and in the danger of disregard- ing hereditary weaknesses, he gathered and compiled for his descendants a wealth of interesting records and character sketches of their ancestors and collateral kindred, em- bracing the more important events in his own life, and his wife's. In a preface to this data, he says :

By reading these pages my sons will learn that through every strain of their blood they are de- scended from those who for generations by clean lives have elevated themselves and have lived in a home circle of culture and refinement, redolent of what is pure and of good repute; who in the serv- ice of their country have ever been distinguished for their simplicity, intelligence, integrity and their devotion to their State: who in war have been where danger was greatest and in peace where counsel was wisest. Past generations with such a record, having contributed with such lavish wealth to the status of their descendants, have a right to demand from the grave that those of their blood who follow shall maintain their name spotless and bright and in time hand it down unsullied and with fresh honors to generations yet unborn. None but a craven in the battle of life, or a sluggard in its race, will turn a deaf ear to such a call, or, unmind- ful of the obligation his ancestry has imposed, bring disgrace on the honored dead or let the high stand- ard of the past be lowered in the present of which he is the guardian.

In the light of his belief in the influences of heredity, a correct biographical sketch of Mr. Blackford must be based upon know- ledge of the characteristics of his own for- bears.

His father, William Matthews Blackford, was the fourth child of Benjamin and Isa- bella Blackford. Of the parentage of Benja- min Blackford, the family has no record, ex- cept that both father and mother died when he was quite young, leaving him, their only child, but small estate. The father is be- lieved to have been one of three brothers, John, Reuben and ^Martin Blackford, who came over from Scotland and settled in \'ew Jersey before the revoltition.

Benjamin Blackford was born in New Jersey, on the 31st day of October, 1767. Even as a boy, he was very industrious and thrifty. Securing first some position with a furnace at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he rapid- ly accumulated money, so that when he came to Virginia, in his twenty-first year, he had about $25,000 of capital, most of which he had made himself. He soon pur- chased a place near Luray, in Page county, where he built the Isabella Furnace, and subsequently, in the same valley, the Caro- line Furnace. He also established the larg- est stove factory and foundry then in Vir- ginia, and with these two furnaces and his foundry, was perhaps the largest operator in the state. A forceful man of high char- acter and business acumen, he was a potent influence in the financial aii'airs of his day. In political faith he was an uncompromis- ing Whig, as he had been Federalist. An ardent churchman, he was one of the pio- neers of the Episcopal church in Virginia, representing his parish in the convention of the church in Richmond in 1816. When quite an old man, he met with heavy finan- cial reverses, throtigh accommodation en- dorsement, and coming to Lynchburg, Vir- ginia, made his home with his son, \\'illiam Matthews Blackford, until his death in Au- gust. 1855.

In 1792, he married Isabella Arthur, daughter of Joseph Arthur, of Cumberland county, Maryland, who died January 24, 1837, near Luray, Virginia, where she is buried. She was a woman of great force of character and influence, whose memory her children held in great reverence. The children of Benjamin and Isabella Black- ford were :