Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/451

 VIRGINIA BIOGRArHY

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Hampden Chamberlayne, Colonel Archer Anderson and other brilliant young Vir- ginians of that day. He was graduated from that institution in the class of 1858, and at once entered upon the active practice of his profession, law, and in due course of time became what used to be generally called the "country lawyer." kindly, acute, ready of resource, and, above all, "always knew his jury." In addition, he was a practical and shrewd business man, and by safe invest- ment of his patrimony and the proceeds of his constantly increasing and highly remu- nerative law practice, achieved a comfort- able fortune which insured for him immunity from labor in his later years, he gradually giving up active pursuits as he advanced in years. He was a staunch "Churchman," neither "High" nor "Low," was active in all church work, was "Historiographer of the Southern Diocese of Virginia," and was a familiar figure, as regular lay delegate, at the annual councils of his communion. Steeped in colonial lore, and a first-hand student of Virginia records, he was an en- thusiastic member of the Virginia Historical Society, and published several valuable monographs, which brought him no small reputation among scholars. Of these, the most noteworthy are : "The Religious Ele- ment in the Settlement of Jamestown in 1607" (1898): "The Loyalty of the Clergy of the Church of England in \'irginia to the Colony in 1776 and Their Conduct" (1907) ; and "Four Square and Fox Hunting"(i905), in which he first sketches from county rec- ords of the seventeenth century the early history of the estate, and then, in keeping with the jovial occasion, portrays in humor- ous fashion the rollicking life of hard-riding Virginia squires of his boyhood. This was prepared originally for the annual "meet" of the hounds at "Four Square." then owned by his eldest brother, who had been "Mas- ter of Hounds" in Isle of ^Vight for more than half a century.

Mr. Thomas and his accomplished wife were "fond of company," delighted to keep open house and to see gathered about their hospitable board kinsmen and friends. His wife was his inseparable companion wherever he went, and as they had no chil- dren, they became great travelers both in Europe and in the East, and her death, which occurred a few years previous to his, was a grievous blow to him, and he rarely left home after that sad event, becoming

more and more immersed in his books. With perfect truth might be said of Mr. Thomas what was said of Joseph Bryan, former president of the Virginia Historical Society: "His devotion to his mother state was no abstract sentiment, but the passionate loyal- ty that a Hie'lander of the eighteenth cen- tury felt for the chief of his clan." It cropped out constantly in his idlest talk and colored everything that he wrote.

The above is taken from an obituary by Captain W. Gordon McCabe, president of the \'irginia Historical Society, which ap- peared in the proceedings of that society at its annual meeting in 1915.

Thomas Fortune Ryan. It is certainly within the province of true history to com- memorate and perpetuate the lives of those men whose careers have been of signal use- fulness and honor, and in this connection it is compatible that mention be made of Thomas F. Ryan, a native of Nelson county, \^irginia, born October 17, 1851. As a man and as a citizen he has displayed a personal worth and an excellence of character that has not only commanded the respect of those with whom he associates but has won for him the warmest personal admiration and the staunchest friendships.

In 1868, after completing his studies, he began his business career in a dry goods house in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, and two years later entered Wall street, New York City, and in 1874 became a mem- ber of the New York Stock Exchange, and subsequently became interested in the con- solidation and extension of street railway and lighting systems in New York, Chicago and other cities, also in the reorganization of various railways in the South, in coal prop- erties in Ohio and West Virginia, and rail- ways in Ohio, and in addition purchased a controlling interest of stock of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, with which extensive concern he has been identified since 1905. The fact that he was a member of the board of directors or an officer in more than thirty corporations, in which he was a controlling factor, he retir- ing from the same in December, 1908, is ample evidence that he is a man of rare executive ability, of clear-sighted judgment, active and enterprising, possessing the char- acteristics that make for success. The prin- ciple companies of which he was a director were the Guaranty Trust Company and the