Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/99

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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outbreak of the war between the states, when he returned to Virginia and entered the Confederate army. After the war he resumed the pursuit of his profession and was in turn chief engineer of the Seaboard Air Line and engineer in charge of the Rich- mond & Danville Railroad. In 1892 he re- tired from active professional life.

His military service began with the first call for men, he joining an infantry com- pany known as the Jefferson Guards of Richmond, of which he was elected captain. ^\hen this company became part of a regi- ment he was elected and commissioned major. His regiment was assigned to duty at the iron works at Richmond engaged in making guns and munitions of war, but de- siring field duty Major Moncure was at his own request relieved of this duty and ap- pointed assistant commandant at Fort Lee where troops were being drilled and organ- ized for active duty. After serving in this capacity for six months he applied for a still more active assignment and was appointed engineer officer, first serving with the engi- neers' corps, later as engineer officer on General Magruder's staff. He was superb in the face of danger, his courage being manifested on many fields of battle. He was in Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, and under General Lee's special directions had charge of the countermining after the Crater explosion at Petersburg. He fought at Cold Harbor and Fredericksburg, Gettys- burg and Petersburg and many other of the historic battles of the war. His map of the battlefield of Fredericksburg is part of the government official records at Washington. He passed all perils of war unscathed, and in after life served his state in legislative halls. His last public service was as mem- ber of the constitutional convention of 1902 to which he was elected without opposition from the legislative district composed of Stafford and King George counties.

Major Moncure might well be classed as one of nature's noblemen. His kindly genial nature expanded in the society of relatives and friends and he was one of the most generous and hospitable of hosts. His great nature took in all those in need and his charity was boundless. A Christian gentle- man, baptized in the Episcopal church, he was steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in good works. Those who knew him best have the comfortable assurance

that his labor was not in vain and that when without warning the end suddenly came he presented his soul spotless before Him who gave it.

Major Moncure married (first) Fannie Washington Moncure, daughter of Judge R. C. L. Moncure, of the Virginia court of appeals. He married (second) Marguerite Elizabeth Moncure, sister of his first wife, their mother being Mary Piutler Washing- ton (Conway) Moncure. Marguerite Eliza- beth Moncure was born January 16. 1839, died Februarv 26, 1897. She was the mother of four children : Mary .Adrian, deceased, aged nineteen years; William Augustus, of Philadelphia, connected with the Pennsyl- \ania Railroad, married Caroline Ashe Pemberton. of Albemarle, North Carolina : Richard Cassius Lee, of whom further; Robinson, an eminent lawyer of .Alexandria, \''irginia, a member of the Virginia house of delegates, married Ida Grigg, of .Alexan- dria, Virginia.

Richard Cassius Lee Moncure. son of Major Thomas Jefferson Moncure and his second wife. Marguerite Elizabeth (Mon- cure) Moncure, was born in .Stafford, \'ir- ginia, February 5. 1872, his birthplace the old Moncure homestead. His early educa- tion was obtained in local schools, later he attended Locustdale Academy and Freder- icksburg private schools. He then entered William and Mary College. He began business life with a Pennsylvania Railroad engineering corps, then spent a year in West Virginia on a coal land survey, then established a factory in Falmouth, Stafford county, Virginia, for the making of pickles, under the firm name \\'allace & Mon- cure. Mr. Moncure was in full control of the lousiness and yet retains an active inter- est in this prosperous enterprise. He is also owner of a fine estate of seven hundred acres in Stafford county. A Democrat in ]5olitics. Mr. .Moncure has served in legis- lative districts (Stafford and King George counties), three terms in the house of dele- gates, and one term as state senator, filling these offices with dignity and honor. On March 21, 1914, he was appointed collector of internal revenue for the Eastern Vir- ginia district, a choice meeting with the approval of the district aft'ected. Mr. Mon- cure is a member of the Patriotic Sons of .America, the hall in which the local lodge meets, known as "Moncure Hall," having