Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/474

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

School in Richmond and Randolph-Macon College. The severe loss of property sus- tained by his father during the war com- pelled him to enter the business world, and coming to Richmond with his parents after the destruction of the homestead, he entered the employ of W. W. Baldwin, hardware merchant on Main street. He remained with Mr. Baldwin nine years as accountant and secretary, then for twenty-one years was associated with James McGraw, in the ca- j)acity of chief accountant and salesman. The confinement of store and office life told upon his health and for several years he was a commercial traveler, covering terri- tory in Virginia,. West Virginia, North and South Carolina for the Richmond house of H. C. Sims. He was recognized as an able and capable man of business and main- tained most confidential relations with the firms with which he was connected. He was a member of lodge and chapter of the Masonic order and held both a past masters and a past high priest's jewel, also serving both lodge and chapter as secretary for many years. He was a communicant of .St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church, and a Democrat in politics, but he never sought or accepted public office, his home and his business being his great interest.

Mr. Murray married. April 13, 1880, Lucy Frances, daughter of William T. and Lucy Frances (Rowe) King, granddaughter of Rev. George Rowe, a minister of the Baptist church of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Mrs. Murray survives her husband, a resident of Richmond. Her only child, Frances, was married, November 6, 1912, to James H. Headen, born in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Their child, Frances Headen, was born January 27, 1914.

George Berry Williams. Descendant of an old New York state family, born in the state of Illinois, and a Virginian by adop- tion, Mr. Williams may lay claim to being cosmopolitan. He came to Richmond, April I, 1903, as assistant auditor of the Virginia Passenger and Power Company.

George Berry Williams is a son of George Williams, born in New York state, March 31, 1823, died in Carmi. Illinois, March 8, 1900, having lived beyond the scriptural "three score years and ten." George Wil- liams was a son of Joseph Williams, who was the pioneer ancestor of the family, com-

ing here from Londonderry, Ireland : his wife, Serena (Graham) Williams, was a native of Belfast, Ireland. On their arrival they settled in New York City. George Williams was a merchant of Carmi for many years, spending his latter days in honorable retirement. He married Frances Chinn Crebs, born in Shenandoah Valley of Vir- ginia, daughter of Berry Crebs. He was born August 9, 1803, died September 8, 1884. married Lucy Jones Wilson. The children of George and Frances Chinn (Crebs) Williams were: George Berry, of whom further ; John Montgomerv, of In- dianapolis, Indiana; Elam Stewart, of Terre Haute, Indiana ; Joseph Fleming, of Carmi, Illinois; one child died in infancy.

George B. Williams was born in Carmi, Illinois, February 25, 1870, the eldest son of his parents. He attended public schools in Carmi until sixteen years of age, then entered business life as clerk in a dry goods store in his native town. He remained five years in that store, then having reached the legal age he left home, entering the employ of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company at St. Louis, Missouri. He remained with that company from June, 1891, until 1903, re- ceiving several promotions. He resigned the position to accept the post of assistant auditor of the Virginia Passenger and Power Company, entering upon the duties of his office with the latter road April i, 1903. In 1909 the road was reorganized as the Virginia Railway & Power Company, Mr. Williams being advanced to the position of assistant secretary and treasurer. In 1912 he was elected secretary-treasurer, which position he now holds.

Mr. Williams married, in Greenville, Illi- nois, June I, 1903, Edith May Clarkson, born in Greenville, now the residence of her widowed mother, Elizabeth (McDowell) Clarkson. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have a daughter, Elizabeth Clarkson, born June 26, 1904.

John Brady Grayson. The first of the Graj'sons in .\mcrica of whom there is any record at hand was Benjamin Grayson, who, with his sister, emigrated from England or Scotland to Westmoreland county, Vir- ginia, afterwards settling on the Occoquan river near the spot which later became Col- chester, his immigration finding its date in the early part of the seventeenth century.