Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/595

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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tha Philadelphia Frances, Samuel Bedloe, Philip Daniel, William Asbury, Edward Dunscomb, Jonathan.

Edward Dunscomb Christian, son of Henry Asbury and Lucy Wood (Duns- comb) Christian, was born in 1823. He was a prominent lawyer of ante and post bellum days, practicing in the supreme court of the state, and in the city of Lynch- burg and its adjacent counties. He was also interested in newspaper work and founded the "Lynchburg News." He married Cor- nelia Burton, daughter of John Hudson and Margaret (Macon) Burton, a woman of rare charm, who endeared herself to the entire community through her broad sympathies and universal ministrations of service and love. Children : Edward Dudley, John H., Elizabeth D., Frank Patteson, Grace Cow- an.

Judge Frank Patteson Christian, son of Edward Dunscomb and Cornelia (Burton) Christian, was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, November 18, 1858. Through reverses of fortune caused by the Civil war. Judge Christian's father was unable to give him a college education, but his desire for knowl- edge made opportunity for its acquisition. At not quite twenty-one he was elected principal of Monroe School, and while teaching he studied law and attended two summer sessions of Professor John B. Minor's law class at the University of Vir- ginia. In 1887 he resigned his position in the public school and commenced the practice of law, succeeding in his profession from the start. In 1890 he was elected common- wealth's attorney of Lynchburg, and re- elected without opposition in 1892. He was chairman of the Democratic party in that year, when the city gave Mr. Cleveland the largest majority in proportion ever given a preside.itial candidate He resigned the ofifice of comm.onwealth's attorney in 1894 when elected to the bench of the corpora- tion court of Lynchburg, to which ofhce he has been elected four times without oppo- sition. When originally elected he was the youngest man to have occupied that posi- tion in the state, and has served longer than any other incumbent. Study of the Bible and philosophy have made him a very suc- cessful teacher of a large number 01 men interested in the study of those subjects, and his Sunday morning class averages more than a hundred men from twenty to

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seventy years of age. He was, until his resignation, for many years a steward in the Court Stieet Methodist Episcopal Church, of Lynchburg, Virginia. Judge Christian is also one of the two oldest directors, in point of service, of the First National Bank. He is the president of the Imperial, Chris- tian, Lynchburg and Deitz Collieries in \\'est Virginia.

Among Judge Christian's other direct immigrant ancestors are George Benton "Gent" of "Longuer Hail" Shropshire. Eng- land, emigrated 1608. Gideon Macon, Huguenot stock, emigrated from England, 1660. settled at "The Island" New Kent count}', Virginia. William Claiborne emi- grated from Claiborne Hall, Westmoreland county, England, settled in Virginia, 1671. Chevalier Du Val emigrated and settled in Virginia.

Judge Christian married, in Lvnchburg, January 28, 1890, Mary Lucretia Dearing, born August 27, 1864, daughter of General James Dearing (see Dearing) and Roxanna ( Birchett) Dearing. Children : James Dearing, born February 16, 1891 ; Charles Lynch, born November 21, 1893; Frank Patteson, Jr., born February 24, 1896; Cor- nelia Dunscomb, born September 2, 1897; Harrison, born September 21, 1900.

(The Dearing Line).

The first Dearing of whom we have rec- ord of this branch of the family was Robert Dearing, who lived in Orange county, Vir- ginia, and died there in 1758. He married Elizabeth.

Edward Dearing. son of Robert Dearing, took up land near Arnoldton, in what is now Campbell county for hunting purposes. W'hile on a deer hunting expedition with a party of gentlemen, he died suddenly at a spring near where the old Shiloh Church afterwards stood, where he sat down on a log to rest. This was between 1785 and 1790. He married Ann.

Captain James Dearing, son of Edward and Ann Dearing, was born July 3, 175 — , and died October 13, 181 1. He was a cap- tain in the revolutionary war, serving un- der General Washington. He married, about 1785, Betsy Adams, daughter of Cap- tain Robert and Penelope (Lynch) Adams. Children: i. Nancy, married Jonathan White. 2. Sallie, married Marston Clay. 3. Elizabeth, married Stephen Clay. 4. Mil-