History of Goochland County Virginia United States of America

Our database does not include an historic photo for Goochland County Virginia, do you have one you would like to contribute? Contact Us!

Biographies:

George Washington Hopkins, representative, was born in Goochland county, Va., Feb. 22, 1804. His father was first a Methodist and later a Protestant Episcopal clergyman. The son was educated in the "old field" schools and studied law, teaching school in order to pay his law tuition. He became a lawyer in Lebanon, Va., and was a delegate to the state legislature, 1833-34; and a representative in the 24th and 25th congresses, 1835-39, and again in the 27th, 28th and 29th congress, 1841-47, serving as speaker pro tempore of the house during the second session of the 28th congress. In 1847 he was appointed by President Polk charg? d'affaires of the United States to Portugal, and remained at the post for two years. He was elected a delegate in the Virginia legislature in 1849 and served as speaker. He was subsequently for a time judge of the circuit court and was returned to the U.S. congress as a representative in the 35th congress, 1857-59, from the Abingdon district, serving in that congress as chairman of the committee on foreign relations. He was again a representative in the Virginia legislature, 1859-61, and died, at Abingdon, Washington county, Va., March 2, 1861.

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

James Pleasants, senator, was born in Goochland county, Va., Oct. 24, 1769; son of James and Anne (Randolph) Scott Pleasants; grandson of John and Susanna (Woodson) Pleasants and of Isham and Jane (Rogers) Randolph; great-grandson of Joseph and Martha (Cocke) Pleasants, and great2-grandson of John Pleasants of Norwich, England, and of "Curles," Va., who married Jane, widow of Samuel Tucker. His mother Anne Randolph, married (1st) Daniel Scott, (2d) John Pleasants, and (3d) James Pleasants. He was instructed by private tutors, studied law under Judge Fleming and practised in Goochland county. He was married to Susanna, daughter of Col. Hugh of "Geddes" and Caroline Matilda (Jordan) Rose of Buckingham county, Va. He was a Republican representative in the state legislature, 1796-1803; clerk of the house, 1803-11; a representative in the 12th-15th congresses, 1811-19, and U.S. senator, 1819-22, resigning his seat to become governor of Virginia, serving 1822-25. He was a delegate to the Virginia constitutional convention of 1829-30, and twice declined high judicial appointments from the governor of Virginia. The county of Pleasants, Va., was named in his honor. He died at his homestead in Goochland, Va., Nov. 9, 1839.

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

John Hampden Pleasants, journalist, was born in Goochland county, Va., Jan. 4, 1797; son of James and Susanna (Rose) Pleasants. He attended the College of William and Mary, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He engaged in journalism and established the Lynchburg Virginian, which he edited for several years. He was twice married, first to Ann Irving, by whom he had no issue, and secondly, to Mary, daughter of Capt. Henry and Susan Preston (Lewis) Massie, by whom he had two children, James and Ann Eliza. He removed to Richmond, Va., where in 1824 he founded the Constitutional Whig and Public Advertiser, of which he was editor-in-chief, 1824-46. He became involved in a political quarrel with Thomas Ritchie, Jr., editor of the Richmond Enquirer, which resulted in a duel in which Pleasants was killed. The Virginia Whigs erected a monument to his memory. He died in Richmond, Va., Feb. 27, 1846.

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

Nathaniel Massie, pioneer, was born in Goochland county, Va., Dec. 28, 1763. He served in the Revolutionary war, 1780; was a surveyor of wild lands in Virginia, 1780-91, and of the Virginia military district north of the Ohio river, 1791-96, laying out on his own land the town of Chillicothe in 1796, and in 1800 was one of the largest land-owners in the Northwest territory. He was a delegate to the state constitutional convention of 1802, and secured the selection of Chillicothe as the state capital; was state senator in the 1st and 2d general assemblies, 1803-04; speaker of the senate, 1803; was a Jefferson elector in 1804, and a Madison elector in 1808, and a representative in the 5th and 8th general assemblies, 1806-07, and 1809-10. He was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for governor of the state at the election on the second Tuesday of October 1807, as successor to Edward Tiffin, who resigned to take his seat in the U.S. senate in March, 1807. When his opponent, Return J. Meigs, was elected, Massie raised the question of his eligibility, and the general assembly in joint convention declared him ineligible under the constitution, but Massie does not appear by the official records to have claimed the office. Thomas Kirker, acting governor, served until Dec. 12, 1808, when Samuel Huntington was inaugurated. Massie was major-general of the state militia for several years. He died at Paint Creek Falls, Ohio, Nov. 13, 1813.

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

History of Goochland County Virginia

Biographies:

Local History and Genealogy Links: