Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/809

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

1119

Funkston, Maryland, in 1821, died in 1889 Charles Hess Locher was quartermaster in the Confederate army stationed at Lynch- burg, \"irginia, during the Civil war, and in his home county was a well known contrac- tor and manufacturer of cement. The mother of Charles Hunter Locher was Alary Elizabeth (Orrick) Locher, who was born in Hancock, Maryland, in 1831, died in 1884, the daughter of Cromwell Orrick. The family name of Locher is occupational and an allied name is Lockerman, or a man who makes locks. The name is found both in Germany and Britain, and families of the name have been distinguished in Europe. In the General Armory of J. P>ernard Burke, the arms of one family of the name are thus heraldically described : Quarterly first and third, or a chevron, between three dragons heads erased gules ; second and third argent a fesse three lozenges azure. Crest : A buck's head erased proper.

Mr. Charles Hunter Locher was educated a? a boy in the public and private schools of liis native town, and after leaving school worked with concerns in connection with railroads, and in this way obtained a very practical knowledge of railway construc- tion. From that he drifted naturally into contract work. He has constructed in many parts of the country, in connection with others, large and important dams, canals, and similar work, notable among which are : Chicago Drainage Canal ; Hydro Elec- tric Plant, 1400 H. P.. Richmond, Virginia; I. & O. \'iaduct, Richmond, Virginia; Wa- chusett Dam, Clinton, Massachusetts, for water supply for city of Boston ; excavation West Xeebish Channel, Sault St. Marie, and Livingston Channel, Detroit, Michigan, for United States government ; Shoshome Dam, Cody, \\"yoming, at the time of construction the highest in the world ; four and one-half mile aqueduct within the limits of the city of New York : several sections of New York state barge canal, the cost of these aggre- gating over twenty million dollars, in which he has not only had a business interest, but a large share in the constructive work of achievement, involving labor adequate to the completion of large and difficult engi- neering and other undertakings. He is the inventor of the "aerial dump" used in large excavating and conveying works, and is the owner of several United States patents, in- cluding rock drills. Mr. Locher is a member

of various fraternities and societies, among them, "The Southern Society of New York City," "The Virginians of New York City," and "The Technical Club of Chicago, Illi- nois." In politics he is a Democrat, and takes an independent and personal stand in matters of religion.

Mr. Locher is one of six children, most of whom reached maturity. His brothers and sisters were : Harry Orrick, born at Alpine, Maryland, 1850, married Lulu E. Jett, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, their chil- dren being Harry Orrick, Jr., Eben, Bailey, Edith, Louise, and Lawrence; Eben, born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, in 1853, married Maggie Garber, their children being Charles H., Mary, George, John and Bald- win ; George, born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, March 27, 1865, married Mary Poindexter, of Rockbridge county, sister of Senator Poindexter, their child being Fran- cis Lightfoot ; Lawrence, born in Rock- bridge county, 1867, died at the age of six- teen years ; Lucy A. (twin to Lawrence Locher), born in Rockbridge county, 1867; Henry S., born in Rockbridge county.

Mr. Locher married, October 3, 1909, Matilda McClure, daughter of John and Rose (Angle) Bowles, born at Hancock, Maryland, in 1865. There have been no children of this marriage. The Locher fam- ily of Virginia has been allied in different generations with many well known families of the south, and has itself in the persons of some of its members played a worthy part in the communities to which its ramifica- tions have run. The family has not been a numerous one, but it has made up in qual- ity what it lacks in quantity, and consider- ing the limited prevalence of the name its members have no right to be ashamed of its record in the political, commercial and pro- fessional fields of activity.

Homer Lenoir Ferguson. The family of Ferguson is of undoubted Scotch origin, and the particular family to which the sub- ject of this sketch belongs emigrated to the north of Ireland from Ayrshire, Scotland, about the middle of the sixteenth century. The family herein described was planted in Burke county. North Carolina, about 1801, when William Ferguson came from county Tyrone, Ireland, and settled there. His v.ife was Margaret Love, also born in county Tyrone, Ireland, and she came to