Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/591

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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Club of Rochester, Minnesota. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias. He is ever ready to heed the call of suffering, and especially of those in need, and very much of his work is performed without hope or desire for recompense. He is a member of the llajitist church, a Democrat politically, and a genial, whole-souled citizen, whose vir- tues are approached by a wide circle of acquaintances. He married, June ii, 1899, Helen von Lehn. and they are the parents of children : Elizabeth, born 1900; John W., 1902; Joseph Thomas (2), 1904; Russell Field, 1908; Helen, 191 1.

Russell Buxton, third son of Samuel N. and Elizabeth (Peele) Buxton, was born December 5, 1877, in Jackson, North Caro- lina, and received his early education in the ])ublic schools of his native town. After one year at the Homers Military School, in Oxford, North Carolina, he embarked in business as proprietor of a retail grocery in Jackson, where he continued two years. Following this he pursued a course in a business college at Norfolk, after which he located in Newport News, in association with J. A. Buxton & Company, dealers in furniture. For three years, from 1900 to 1902, he was engaged in the dry goods busi- ness at Portsmouth, \'irginia, and for eleven years he was in the service of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. Returning to Newport News he became at once general district manager of the Provident Life and Trust Company. He is a faithful member of the Baptist church, and acts politically with the Democratic party, in which he is popular. His handsome home in Newport News is the abode of hospitality and refined taste. He married. September 21, 1904, Essie Cot- ton Weaver, daughter of Richard and Esther (Cotton) Weaver, of Hertford, Virginia. They are the parents of a son, Russell Bux- ton, born January 17, 1909.

Wesley Harrison Brewer. Captain Wes- ley Brewer is a descendant of an early Mary- land family, which has filled an honorable place in the annals of that state. General Nicholas Brewer, son of John Brewer, eighth adjutant general of Maryland, was born Oc- tober 24, 1808, at Annapolis, Maryland. In 1825 he entered St. John's College of that city, and continued his studies into the fol- lowing year. He subsequently pursued the study of law, was admitted to the bar, and

practiced several years at .\nnapolis. On March 24. 1858, he was appointed adjutant- general of Maryland, with the rank of colo- nel of artillery, and served nearly to the close of the Civil war, resigning February 4, 1864- He served during the administra- tions of Governors Hicks and Bradford, and was active in equipping and reviewing troops, from 1861 to 1864. He died at Annapolis, March 14, 1874. He had three sons : Nicholas, now connected with the Seaboard Air Line of Savannah, Georgia; Harry Gaston, is connected with the hvdro- graphic office of the United States of Amer- ica; and Frank Gaston, of further mention.

Frank Gaston Brewer, third son of Gen- eral Nicholas Brewer, was born i860, in Annapolis, where he attended a military school, after which he was employed in the office of Glenn Brown, an architect, of Washington, D. C. Here he became skilled in drafting, and subsequently took up sur- veying, and was employed in this capacity by the Old Dominion Land Company at Newport News. Following this he entered the service of the Chesapeake & Ohio rail- road at that place, and afterward went into the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry- dock Company as a member of the construc- tion corps. A man of domestic tastes, he mingled little in public affairs but was en- thusiastic and energetic in his professional work, and was esteemed by his associates in every relation of life. He is a Presbyterian in religion, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and acted politically with the Democratic party. He married, in 1884, Laura Potts, born 1868, daughter of Henry and Laura (Ross) Potts, the latter a daughter of Admiral Albert Ross, of the United States navy. Children: Wesley Harrison, mentioned below; Charles Nich- C'jas, born 1887; Frank Gaston, 1889; Ruby Ellen, 1894; Laura Helen, 1907.

A\'esley Harrison Brewer, son of Frank Gaston and Laura (Potts) Brewer, was born February 8, 1885, in Newport News, where he attended a public school. Early in life he was employed by the Chesapeake iK; Ohio Railroad Company, and in 1907 be- came a clerk in the quartermaster's depart- ment of the United States, in which capacity he was sent on a trip to Cuba. On his re- turn in 1909 he pursued a course in a busi- ness college at Washington, D. C, and be- fore the close of that year was appointed