Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/435

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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were two subjects upon which she was sometimes deemed fanatical — temperance and slavery. She was one of the earliest workers in the temperance reform, and she and her husband gave freedom to all their slaves and, at their own expense, sent the most of them to Liberia, just as her mother had done with the great number of negroes she inherited from the Cleve estate. Despite these strong views on the slavery question, and the fact that her husband and sons were all opposed to secession, Mrs. Blackford uttered not a murmur nor a protest when the crisis came and her five boys joined the Confederate forces to defend their state against the invaders. Although an invalid for the greater part of her life, she accom- plished much of good and deeply impressed her influence upon all who came within its range. A skilled housekeeper, she dispensed almost boundless hospitality, keeping up a charming home comfortably within the limits of her husband's moderate income.

Mrs. Blackford's father. General John Minor, of Hazel Hill, Fredericksburg, Vir- ginia, was born in 1761, and married (first) Mary Berkeley, daughter of Landon Carter Berkeley, of Airwell, Hanover county, Vir- ginia, who died after a year, leaving no chil- dren. He then married Lucy Landon Car- ter, daughter of Landon Carter, of Cleve, King George county, Virginia.

General Minor was an officer in both the revolutionary war and the war of 1812, and in private life was a lawyer of renown. He died in Richmond while sitting as one of the electors of the college which cast the vote for Monroe as president. He and President Monroe were warm personal friends.

The first of the Minor name of whom there is any record in Virginia is "Doodas" or "Doodes" Minor, born in Holland in 1644. The name in Holland was "Miendert." He was naturalized in 1673, at the same time with Minor Doodes (see "Hening's Statutes at Large," vol 2, page 308), who, some rec- ords state, was his father, and who is some- times called r^Iiendert Doodes. This Minor (or Miendert) Doodes married Miss Geret (or Caret) of Holland.

Mr. Blackford, commenting upon this strain of his blood, says: "The Minor fam- ily is a very peculiar one. It has been in Virginia for over 250 years and all that time its members have been persons of high re-

spectability and great local influence, but almost without exception they have shunned public office and positions of prominence. There seems to be something in the blood which carries with it a distaste for office and an unwillingness to come before the people for their suft'rage."

Doodes Minor married Mary Elizabeth Cocke, who survived him. According to his will, admitted to probate in Middlesex county, May 27, 1695, he had four sons: Minor Minor, William ]\Iinor, Garet Minor and Peter Minor, and lie mentions a grand- daughter, Elizabeth Michelburough. He appoints his "loving wife, Elizabeth Minor," and his "loving sons" his "lawful exrs" and "lends" to her during her widowhood what appears to have been a goodly part of his estate.

Garrett Minor (or Garet, as the will has it), born in 1680, married Diana Carr. They had one son, John Elinor, who was born January 29, 1707, and died in 1755. On No- vember 14, 1732, he married Sarah, daugh- ter of Captain Thomas and Mary (Dabney) Carr, born November, 1714; died Septem- ber 28, 1772. Her mother, Mary Dabney, was born January 22, 1685.

This first John Minor, of Virginia, left eleven children, of whom the eldest was Mr. Blackford's ancestor, John Minor (the second) of Topping Castle, known as "Major John Alinor"; born November 13, 1735, died March 21, 1800. He is reputed to have been a man of affairs, whose shrewdness, busi- ness ability, energy, and power of endur- ance gave him such influence that his coun- sel was much sought by his contemporaries. He married Elizabeth Cosby and their de- scendants are very numerous. His eldest son was Thomas Carr Minor, born January L3' 1757- married Ann Rudd, and moved to Tennessee. His second son. William Minor, of Hybla, Hanover county, married Alildred T. Lewis, daughter of Captain John Lewis, of Fredericksburg. Mr. Blackford's grand- father. General John Minor, of Hazel Hill, Fredericksburg, was the third son.

Lancelot Minor, the fourth son, was born in 1763, married Mary Overton Tompkins, lived at "Minor's Folly" in Louisa county, and died in 1848. Among his descendants who achieved marked distinction was his seventh child, John Barbee Minor, born January 2, 1813, and died July 30, 1895. As professor of law at the University of Vir-