Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/452

 864

VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

American Tobacco Company. He was a delegate from Virginia to the Democratic national convention of 1904, in which capac- ity he rendered valuable service. He holds membership in the Chamber of Commerce, Southern Society, and in the following clubs : Metropolitan, Manhattan, Union, Lawyers', Catholic, New York Athletic, Democratic, Arm}' and Navy, Automobile, Country, Knollwood Country, Riding, Tuxedo (New York) and Metropolitan (Washington).

Mr. Ryan married, November 25, 1873, Ida M. Barry, of Baltimore, Maryland.

Emett Family. The name Emmet has existed in England for centuries. The rec- ords of Oxford show that in one of the colleges of that university, Henry Emmet received the degree of Doctor of Music in the time of Henry the Second.

Sir Bernard Burke, in his work on the "Landed Gentry," claims that members of the family bearing the name of Emot and Emmott have been landholders in Lancas- tershire since the days of William the Con- queror; and the name variously spelled, is not infrequently found at the present day in that portion of England as well as in the adjoining county of Yorkshire. He also states: "Of this family, established in Eng- land at the conquest, the first or second on record is Robert de Emot, who held lands in Colne, 4 Edward II.: as per inquisition; he built the mansion of Emot, and died 1310.

The Emmott family is still living on these lands at Colne, and from this source all of the race originally sprang, without reference to the different modes of spelling the name.

The Shakesperian Society of England has published a document showing who were Shakespeare's neighbors in Chapel Street W'ard, Stratforde borough, W^arwick. "At a certain time of great scarcity this docu- ment was doubtless made as an inventory for ascertaining the quantity of grain held by each family in the town." It is endorsed : "The noate of Corne and malte, taken the 4th of February, 1597, in the 40th year of the raigne of our most gracious Soveraigne Ladie, Queen Elizabeth," etc.

"William Shakespere is credited with ten- quarters, and William Emmette's stock on hand is given as eight quarters of Corne." As there were but four other persons in the town who held a larger quantity, and but little in excess, it is apparent from this fact, and from the locality of his residence,

that this William Emmet, in 1597, was a man of means and position in Stratford- upon-Avon.

As a result of careful investigation, it was found that there had existed no standard mode of spelling the name, and it is equally evident that in many instances the same in- dividual frequently varied his orthography at different periods of his life.

There are certain striking peculiarities strangely associated almost everywhere with the name of Emmet. The most strik- ing is in the close resemblance of the arms borne by the different branches of the fam- ily for centuries past, without regard to the different ways of spelling the name. They are the same as are used by the Emmott family of today at Colne, and were no doubt borne by Robert de Emot in the 14th cen- tury. In consideration of the importance which has been given heraldic claims in other portions of the world and the jeal- ousy with which the use was guarded, the fact stated should bear weight in proving a common origin. The records of England and Ireland also show, that an unusually large proportion of the Emmets have been professional men, not at any time having great wealth, but all seeming to have been in comfortable circumstances. This would indicate a thrifty race, with little taste for show, and one inclined to live within its means. But the most remarkable circum- stance noted was the fact "that the family has occupied about the same social position from the earliest record to the present day — a fact doubtless attributed to the training of professional life and the consequent de- velopment and maintenance of the intellect- ual faculties."*

Emett-Emmet.f The Virginia Emetts are represented in the present generation by

•I am indebted to personal letters from Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, of New York City, and to his "Memoir of Dr. John Patten Emmet, of University of Vir- ginia, for most of this information.

Authorities— Virginia State Library. Virginia Historical Society. Pennsylvania State Library.

tReferences — Henry Howe's Outline History of Virginia Early Davs In and Around Stephens City. Bishop Mead's Old Churches. Burke's Landed Gen- try. Dictionary of Family Names. Genealogy of Baskerville Family, by P. H. Baskerville. Rich- mond Enquirer, October 29, 1S24. Library of Con- gress — Free Collection. William and Mary Quar- terly, Vol. XX, Vol. XV, Vol. Mil. Memoir of Dr. John Patten Emmet, bv Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, of New York City. Family Bibles, verified by rec- ords of these counties: Madison, Nelson, Campbell, Halifax. Alhermarle, Cumberland. D. A. R. Maga- zine. Vol. XLV., No. 6.

Note — This outline of the Emett and Allied Fam- ilies is incomplete, but is just what I could gather In a limited time. Mrs. D. T. Edwards.