History of Dinwiddie County Virginia United States of America

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John Pegram, soldier, was born in Dinwiddie county, Va., Nov. 16, 1773; son of Capt. Edward and Mary (Lyle) Pegram. His grandfather, Edward Pegram, came from England in the fall of 1699 with a party of engineers under Col. Daniel Baker, whose daughter, Mary Scott Baker, he married. Their second son, Capt. Edward Pegram (born about 1744, died, March 30, 1816), was appointed "special commander" to defend his parish and county against the Indians, and thus became known as "King Pegram." He was also a captain in the American Revolution and a juror in the trial of Aaron Burr. John Pegram was a magistrate for more than twenty years, a member of the house of delegates for many years and of the state senate for eight years; a representative in the 15th congress, 1818-19, completing the term of Peterson Goodwin, deceased; major-general of state militia in the war of 1812, and U.S. marshal of the eastern district of Virginia in Monroe's administration. He married, first, Miss Coleman of Dinwiddie; and secondly, Martha Ward Gregory, and was the father of fourteen children. He died in Dinwiddie county, Va., April 8, 1831.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Dixon Hall Lewis, senator, was born in Dinwiddie county, Va., Aug. 10, 1802. He removed to Hancock county, Ga., with his parents in childhood, prepared for college at Mount Zion, Ga., and was graduated from South Carolina college. He was admitted to the bar in 1823 and settled in the practice of law in Montgomery, Ala. He was a representative in the Alabama legislature, 1825-27, and during this time advocated the removal of the remaining Indian tribe from the state. He was a representative from Alabama in the 21st-28th congresses 1829-44, resigning his seat in 1844 to accept the appointment by Governor Fitzpatrick as U.S. senator, in place of W. R. King, appointed U.S. minister to France. He served the remainder of the term expiring March 3, 1847, and was re-elected for the term expiring March 3, 1853, defeating W. R. King and Arthur F. Hopkins, and was chairman of the committee on finance. He married a daughter of Gen. John Elmore of Augusta county, Ala. He was a trustee of the University of Alabama, 1828-31, during the formative period of the institution. He died in New York city, Oct. 25, 1848.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Thomas Atkinson, third bishop of North Carolina and 58th in succession in the American episcopate, was born in Dinwiddie county, Va., Aug. 6, 1807. He was educated at Yale and afterwards at Hampden-Sidney college in Virginia, where he was graduated in 1825. He studied law and practised for nine years, when he turned to the church, pursued his theological course, and was admitted to the diaconate, Nov. 18, 1836. He was consecrated to the priesthood in St. Paul's, Norfolk, Va., May 7, 1837, where he served for a short time as assistant minister, and for a period of two years as rector. His next charge, 1839-1843, was St. Paul's, Lynchburg. In 1843 he became rector of St. Peter's, Baltimore, and in 1852 rector of Grace Church in the same place. Here Dr. Atkinson remained barely a year, being elected to the episcopal office in 1853. He was consecrated bishop of North Carolina at St. John's chapel, New York, Oct. 17, 1853. During the civil war Bishop Atkinson took an active part in the measures adopted to establish the Episcopal church in the confederate states, but when reconstruction took place he was one of two southern bishops who took their seats in the general convention of 1865. In December, 1873, Rt. Rev. Theodore Benedict Lyman was given to the venerable prelate as assistant. In 1846, he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Trinity college; in 1862 the University of North Carolina conferred upon him the Doctorate of Laws, and in 1867, on the occasion of his visit to England to attend the Lambeth conference, he received the degree of Doctor of Laws from the university of Cambridge, England. The life of Bishop Arkinson was one of devout consecration to the charges he had assumed. He was a preacher of great eloquence. His published works were sermons on special occasions, lectures, charges, etc., a charge on "Sacramental Confession," and a pamphlet in reply to the criticism of the Roman Catholic bishop of Richmond on the above charge. He died at Wilmington, N. C., Jan. 4, 1881.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Robert Baker Pegram, naval officer, was born in Dinwiddie county, Va., Dec. 10, 1811; son of Gen. John and Martha Ward (Gregory) Pegram. He was appointed midshipman in the U.S. navy, Feb. 2, 1829, and served in the Mediterranean squadron. He was promoted lieutenant, Sept. 8, 1841, and during the war with Mexico, served under Capt. David O. Farragut on the Saratoga. In 1852, he took part in the Japan expedition. He was engaged in the expedition organized by the combined forces of the British ship Rattler and the U.S. vessel Powhatan against a piratical fleet of thirty-one junks, of which he captured sixteen, and also one hundred cannon with a loss to the pirates of 600 men. For this service he was personally thanked by Admiral Sir James Stirling, flag officer of the British East India squadron, and by the government of Hong Kong and Great Britain, and presented with a sword from the state of Virginia. He was on duty in the Norfolk Navy yard, 1856-60; served in the Paraguay expedition nine months of 1858, and as a commissioner to define the limits of the Newfoundland fisheries in 1859. He resigned his commission in the U.S. navy, April 17, 1861, and was appointed captain in the Confederate navy. He was given command of the Norfolk Navy yard after its evacuation by the Federal troops, April 21, 1861; fortified Pig Point on the Nansemond river, Va., and with its batteries disabled the U.S. steamer Harriet Lane, which was surveying and buoying the river. He commanded the steamer Nashville, October, 1861, to February, 1862. It was the intention of Mason and Slidell, the Confederate commissioners, to take passage on the Nashville, and for this purpose Pegram was to run the blockade from Charleston; but they feared to take the chances, and while he ran the blockade successfully in October, 1861, they were captured on board the British mail steamer Trent. Pegram after capturing the Harvey Birch in the English channel, landed his prisoners at Southampton and was held in port by the U.S. steamer Tuscarora until February, when he effected his escape and made harbor at Beaufort, N.C. He was detailed to superintend the armament of the iron-clad steamer Richmond, which he took to Drewry's Bluff, when he was transferred to the new iron-clad Virginia, the best vessel in the Confederate fleet. In 1864 funds were raised by Virginia to purchase and equip in England, a naval force to be called the Virginia volunteer navy, to be commanded by Captain Pegram. He went to England for the purpose, and had one vessel in readiness when Lee surrendered. He was married first to Lucy Binns Cargill of Sussex county, who was the mother of his seven children; and secondly, to Sarah Leigh of Norfolk. His eldest son, John Cargill Pegram, was killed in battle before Petersburg, June 16, 1804, while a member of the staff of Gen. Matt. W. Ransom of North Carolina who commanded the 4th brigade in Gen. Bushrod R. Johnson's division, Gen. R. H. Anderson's corps. Captain Pegram died in Norfolk, Va., Oct. 24, 1894.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Dinwiddie County Virginia

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