Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/611

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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tice, his brethren of the bench and bar of Richmond paid their last tribute at a special meeting held January i6, 1908, called to take action upon the death of their brother. At that meeting it was resolved, "That in the death of Frank Wood Christian a great legal luminary and an admirable exemplar of professional character and attainments has been lost to our profession. That we tender to his family the sincere sympathy of each individual member of this bar at the great and sudden loss they have sustained." That we will attend the last sad rites to be paid our deceased brother. That the chair appoint one member of this body for each state and federal court in this city to present these resolutions to each court and to re- quest that they be spread upon their rec- ords." Eulogies were pronounced by many of Mr. Christian's most learned contempo- raries from which the present sketch has been largely compiled. All regretted his passing away in the zenith of his powers to the other shore, and all proclaimed his great- ness as a lawyer, his loyalty as a friend and his uprightness as a man.

IMr. Christian married Bessie Enders Pal- mer, daughter of Colonel William H. Pal- mer, of the National State and Cit)- Bank of Richmond, also connected with the Virginia Fire and Marine Insurance Company, of which he is president, and with the Mutual Fire Insurance Company. One son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Christian, Frank Pal- mer, now associated with the Reserve Bank in Richmond ; he married Charlotte Wil- liams Bemis, daughter of E. L. Bemis.

Alfred B.urwell Claytor, M. D. A native son of Virginia, Dr. Claytor has sought pro- fessional fame beyond the borders of his own state and is an honored, successful med- ical practitioner of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The name is an ancient one in Virginia, and through the collateral lines. Bell and Graham, is connected with many of the leading early families. The Bell fam- ily is peculiarly a military one, settled in Augusta county, Virginia, in 1740, there pat- enting land, and sending five brothers to fight with the Colonial army in the war for Independence. One of these brothers was Colonel Thomas Bell, another Major Samuel Bell, and another Captain James Bell, all surviving the war and all present at the final success at Yorktown. Bells fought in

the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the war between the states, 1861-65, Major T. W. Bell serving as an officer of the famous Black Horse Cavalry of Virginia in the Con- federate army. From this same ancestry came Mary Clarinda Bell, wife of Robert Burwell Claytor and mother of Dr. Alfred rUirwell Claytor, of Philadelphia.

The first person of the Claytor name to appear in Virginia history is Rev. John Clay- tor, a former rector of Crofton, in York- shire, England. In 1683 he addressed the Royal Society of England, at their request, letters giving an account of what he called "Several Observables in Virginia." These letters discuss the soil, climate, natural features, and agriculture of the colony, and show close observation, learning, and prac- tical, sound wisdom. He pointed out the value of marl and muck as fertilizers and advised the planters to drain their swamps. When they laughed at or ridiculed his plans he proved their feasibility by draining a pond and bringing to view an inexhaustible soil. Another early Claytor, also a clergyman, was Rev. David Claytor, minister of Bliss- land parish. New Kent county, 1704 to 1724. In his report to the Bishop of London in 1724 he stated that his parish was sixty miles long and that he had under his care one hundred and thirty-six families and sev- enty communicants. John Claytor was attorney-general of Virginia and a friend of Governor Spottswood. Major Philip Claytor, of "Katalpa," was vestryman of St. Mark's parish in 1741. He was the deputy surveyor of Culpeper county. He married Ann Coleman, a sister of Robert Coleman, on whose land Culpeper Court House was built. He had a son, Samuel Claytor, a ves- tryman of St. Mark's, who married his cousin, Ann Coleman. Among their chil- dren was Major Philip Claytor, the second, an officer of the Revolution. Susan, a daugh- ter of Philip Claytor, of "Katalpa," married Colonel James Slaughter, of Culpeper, and reared a distinguished family. Anne, an- other daughter, married Nathaniel Pendle- ton, a grandson of Philip Pendleton, founder of the Pendleton family in Virginia. This Nathaniel Pendleton was an aide to General Greene in the Revolution, and seconded Alexander Hamilton in his duel with Aaron Burr.

Captain Samuel Claytor, great-grand- father of Dr. Alfred Burwell Claytor. was