Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/613

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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uel Snead arrived with his wife Alice, son ^\"illiam and a servant in 1635, and had a grant of land from Charles I. of 250 acres in James City county. The son, William, had four sons, Charles, Zachariah, William and Robert, and one of these is supposed to have been the William Snead who was living in Henrico in 1740. Archibald Snead, sup- posed to have been a son of the Charles Snead who had a grant in what is now Fluvanna, was living there in 1777, at which time he purchased 127 acres of land. He had many descendants named \^^illiam. A recent rambling work devoted to the Sneads of Fluvanna has so few dates as to be of no value to the genealogist. There can be little doubt that the Snead family of Albemarle and Nelson counties is an offshoot of that in Fluvanna. The Revolutionary Rolls of Vir- ginia show that several of the name of Snead were soldiers in that struggle, including Major Smith Snead, who served seven years. The name is very ancient in Eng- land and signifies the handle of a scythe blade. It has many forms, such as Sned, Sneed, Sneyd, Sneyde, but the most usual form in modern times is Snead, as adopted by this family.

W'illiam Snead, who was born in 181 1 in Nelson county, Virginia, afterwards moved to Albemarle county, and there married Sarah Elizabeth Clark. They were the par- ents of Chapman Price Snead, born July 25, 1(850, in Albemarle, died October 7, 1907. His wife, Frances Elizabeth (Hutchinson) Snead. was a daughter of Warner Winston and Mary Ella (Harris) Hutchinson. Chap- man Price Snead was a farmer in King Wil- liam county, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in political alliance a Republican.

Thomas Burton Snead, son of Chapman Price Snead, born in 1878 in King William county, \"irginia, attended private schools and William and Mary College. He subse- quently attended the law department of the University of Virginia, from which he re- ceived the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1902. He was immediately admitted to the bar and engaged in the practice of law at Richmond. Gifted with a keen and analytic mind, IVIr. Snead has made rapid progress, and is now in the enjoyment of a large prac- tice, to which he gives his entire attention. Of modest and retiring nature, he has never sought to mingle in the conduct of public

affairs, and gives most of his spare time to his family and home. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and, like his father, a Republican in political principle. He served his enlistment as a member of the Richmond Blues, one of the finest mili- tia organizations of the state or United States. In this, as in political aflfairs, he was contented to remain a private, and found satisfaction in the fulfilment of his duty. He is a friend of education, and is ever ready to lend his time, influence and support to those higher social movements which are calculated to develop the best in man and promote the progress and welfare of the community, the state and nation. He resides in a beautiful home at No. 3 East Franklin street. Richmond, which is the abode of hos- pitality, refinement and peaceful enjoyment of the best in life.

He married, April 19, 191 1, Mary Cooke Branch, a daughter of James Ransom and Lillian (Hubball) Branch. The Branch family is descended from Christian Branch, who came from England to Virginia in the ship "London Merchant." in 1619 or 1620, known as Christian Branch of "Arrowhat- tocks" and "Kingsland." He was descended from Richard Branch, of Abingdon, in Berk- shire, England, born prior to 1500, a son of Lionel Branch, who was born in England in 1602. The history of the Branch family is given elsewhere in this work in the sketch of the late John Patterson Branch, of Rich- mond. His brother, Colonel James Read Branch, who served with distinction throughout the Civil war, was the father of James Ransom Branch. Christian Branch, the immigrant, was the father of Christian Branch, born 1627, whose son, Benjamin Branch, resided in Henrico, and had a son, Benjamin Branch, who lived in Chesterfield. His eldest son, Benjamin (3) Branch, of Chesterfield, was a captain of the Revolu- tion, justice of the peace and sheriff. His youngest son. Thomas Branch, born April 4, 1767, married Mary, daughter of Colonel David Patterson, of Chesterfield. Their son, Thomas (2) Branch, resided in Petersburg and Richmond, and was the father of James Read and John Patterson Branch.

Robert Powell Page, M. D. While he was a descendant of the Revolutionary officer. Colonel William McGuire, and was himself a Confederate veteran, Dr. Page spent the