Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/52

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

gates in the late forties and early fifties, and was presiding justice of the county for many ytars under the old court system; he was also one of the trustees for Randolph-Macon College before it was moved from Boydton to Ashland ; he was the father of Captain John A\'illiam Hutcheson, who was a grad- uate of the University of Virginia, and was practicing law in Anderson, Texas, upon the outbreak of the civil war; he raised a com- pany at his own expense, marched to Vir- ginia, participated in the great battles of the early part of the war, and was killed at the first battle of Cold Harbor ; and Captain Joseph Chappell Hutcheson, also a graduate of the same university, entered the Confed- erate army as a private in Company C, Twenty-first Virginia Regiment, served in the valley under "Stonewall" Jackson, and by his courage and fidelity gained promo- tion, and when the army was surrendered by General Lee at Appomattox was captain of Company E, Fourteenth Virginia Regi- n)ent ; he moved to Texas, began the prac- tice of law in Grimes county, thence moving to Houston ; in 1874 he was a member of the Texas legislature, in 1880 chairman of the State Democratic Convention, in 1890 member of the fifty-third and fifty-fourth United States Congresses, declined re-elec- tion to a third term and then settled down a;" the head of one of the leading law firms of the state ; he is an able lawyer and man of high character, combining the ability to think deeply with readiness of speech. 3. Joseph Collier, of whom further. By the second marriage Joseph Hutcheson had one son, John \^alentine, who enlisted in the Boydton cavalry as a private and was killed in battle early in the war, and three daugh- ters.

Joseph Collier Hutcheson, l)orn April 11, 1816, died December 14, 1890. He was a prominent man in the county, being one of the largest landowners, and a farmer. He never held any office except that of justice of the peace. In 1853 he was nominated by his party for the house of delegates, but was defeated at the general election. He married Ann Goode Farrar, who bore him seven children: i. James Nathaniel, the first Democrat to be elected to office in Mecklenburg county after the reconstruc- tion period, having been elected to the house of delegates in 1889; he also served in the state senate from the twenty-fifth district,

being elected in 1901 : he served as chairman of the County Democratic Committee for several terms. 2. Lulu Rebecca (Smaw). 3. Charles Samuel, served twenty years as a member of the board of supervisors of the county and as chairman of the board for the past ten years. 4. Sterling Neblett, a promi- nent merchant and farmer of the county ; served for twenty-three years as postmaster of Baskerville. 5. Joseph Emmett. 6. Her- bert Farrar, of whom further. 7. Conway Goode.

The coat-of-arms of the Farrar family is as follows : "Argent, on a bend sable, three horse-shoes of the field. Crest : Horse-shoe sable between two wings argent. Motto : Fcrre ra ferine.'' The earliest known an- cestor of the family was Nicholas Farrar, an eminent Londoner, born 1546, died 1620; he was a member of the Virginia company ; he married Alary Wodenoth, of Cheshire, and among their children was William, through whom the line is carried. William Farrar, a barrister-at-law, came to Virginia, where he was a member of council from 1627 to 1633, and served as justice for Charles City and Flenrico county. He died there on or about the year 1637, leaving two sons, Wil- liam and John, the line being carried through William, who patented two thou- sand acres of land in Henrico county, situ- ated in a neck of land some twelve or fifteen miles below Richmond, and came to be known as Farrar's Island. He was suc- ceeded by his son, William, as the head of the family, and the grants of land to the original patentee and his successors, be- tween 1637 and 1722. aggregated some thir- t_\ -five hundred acres in Henrico county. The Mecklenburg family was founded by George Farrar, son of William Farrar, who moved to Lunenburg county before Meck- lenburg county was cut off from it, and died there in 1772. The next in line of descent was John, son of George Farrar, and he was succeeded by his son, Samuel Farrar. who was succeeded by his son, Samuel Farrar II.. who married Lucy Hudson, a sister of Dr. John R. Hudson, a noted surgeon and iron manufacturer of Nashville, Tennessee, and a daughter of Charles and Nancy (Goode) Hudson, of Bedford county. Vir- ginia. Mr. and Mrs. Farrar were the par- ents of ten children, among who were: Ann Goode. aforementioned as the wife of Joseph C. Hutcheson ; Samuel Goode, served