History of Staunton, (Staunton (city) County) Virginia United States of America

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

Biographies:

James Brown, senator, was born near Staunton, Va., Sept. 11, 1766; a brother of John Brown, U.S. senator from Kentucky. He studied law after his graduation from Washington college, and practised first at Frankfort, Ky. He led a company of sharp shooters in 1791 against the Indians. The following year he was made secretary to Governor Isaac Shelby, and soon after removed to Louisiana, where he aided Edward Livingston in preparing the codes of law, being appointed by President Jefferson secretary of the territory of Louisiana after its acquisition, and U.S. judge in 1804. In 1812 he was elected to the U.S. senate, serving from Feb. 5, 1813, to March 3, 1817, when his term expired. He was elected in 1819 as successor to Senator Fromentin, and resigned, in 1823, to accept the appointment of U.S. minister to France, holding the office until 1829. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., April 7, 1835.

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

William Dorsey Pender, soldier, was born in Edgecombe county, N.C., Feb. 6, 1834; son of James and Sarah (Routh) Pender. He was graduated from the U.S. Military academy, and promoted brevet 2d lieutenant, 1st artillery, July 1, 1854. He served in Florida against the Indians, 1854-55; was promoted 2d lieutenant, 2d artillery, Aug. 16, 1854, and was on frontier duty, 1856-59, in New Mexico, Washington, Oregon and California. He was married, March 3, 1859, to Mary Frances, daughter of the Hon. Augustine H. Shepperd of North Carolina. He was adjutant of the 1st dragoons, Nov. 8, 1860, to Jan. 31, 1861, and resigned his commission in the U.S. army, March 21, 1861. He was commissioned captain of artillery in the provisional army of the Confederate States and had charge of recruiting in Baltimore, Md., up to May, 1861, when he returned to North Carolina and served as drill master at Raleigh and Garrysburg. He was chosen colonel of the 3d N.C. volunteers, May 16, 1861; was transferred to the 6th N.C. regiment, Aug. 15, 1861, and served in Whiting's brigade, Smith's division, left wing of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army in the Peninsular campaign. In the battle of Fair Oaks, Va., May 31-June 1, 1862, by a sudden flank movement he extricated his regiment from a perilous position, thereby saving the entire division, and for this service he was promoted on the field by President Davis to the rank of brigadier-general. He commanded the 6th brigade, composed of the 2d Arkansas battalions, 16th, 22d, 34th, and 38th North Carolina regiments and the 22d Virginia battalion, forming part of A.P. Hill's division, in the Army of Northern Virginia in the seven days' battles before Richmond, June 25-July 1, 1862; in Magruder's command. Hill's division, at second Bull Run, Aug. 16-Sept. 2, 1862, and in the Maryland campaign in Jackson's command. At Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1862, he was praised for the steadiness of his brigade. He opened the battle at Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863, and, although wounded, commanded the division until relieved by Gen. R. E. Colston. He was promoted major-general, May 27, 1863; and his division, composed of the brigades of Generals Scales, Lane, Thomas and McGowan in A. P. Hill's 3d army corps, was conspicuous at Gettysburg when he drove the Federals from the woods on Seminary Ridge, July 2, 1863, and was wounded by a fragment of shell. It was found necessary to amputate his leg and he did not survive the operation. He died at Staunton, Va., July 18, 1863.

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

John Lewis Peyton, author, was born in Staunton, Va., Sept. 15, 1824; son of John Howe and Ann Montgomery (Lewis) Peyton. He was graduated at the University of Virginia, LL.B. in 1845; was in Europe on official business connected wit h the state department of Secretary Webster, 1852-53; resided in Chicago, Ill., 1853-55, and there served as major of the 1st Chicago regiment, and as lieutenant-colonel of the 18th battalion of the National Guards. He declined the office of U.S. district attorney of Utah, offered by President Pierce in 1855, returned to Virginia that year, and was made magistrate, bank director, and member of the board of visitors of the Deaf, Dumb and Blind institution at Staunton. He was married, Dec. 17, 1855, to Henrietta E. Clark, daughter of Col. John C. and Mary (Bond) Washington of Lenoir county, N.C. He recruited and drilled troops for the Confederate army in 1861; was appointed agent of the state of North Carolina in Europe, and remained abroad, 1862-76. He was made a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of London; of the Society of Americanists of Luxembourg, Prussia; an honorary member of the Reform club, London, and a corresponding member of the Virginia and Wisconsin Historical societies. He was entertained by Napoleon Ill. in the Tuileries and had audience with Cardinal Antonelli in the Palace of the Vatican. He edited Dauenhower's Journal, while in Chicago, contributed to the press and to the leading magazines, and is the author of: Pacifc Railway Communications and the Trade of China (1854); A Statistical View of the State of Illinois (1854); The American Crisis; or, Pages from the Note Book of a State Agent during the Civil War in America (1866); Over the Alleghanies and across the Prairies, Personal Recollections of the Far West, One and Twenty Years Ago (1867); Memoir of William Madison Peyton (1870); The Adventures of My Grandfather (1871); Memorials of Nature and Art (1881); A History of Augusta County (1882); Rambling Reminiscences of a Residence Abroad (1886), and A History of Virginia from the Retrocession of Alexandria to the Reconstruction of the Union. He also edited and wrote an introduction to "The Glasse of Time" by Thomas Peyton of Lincoln's Inn (1887), and edited "Tom Swindel, or the Adventures of a Boomer" (1893). See life in Brock's "Virgina and Virginians." He died in Staunton, Va., May 23, 1896.

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

Joseph Wilson Fifer, governor of Illinois, was born in Staunton, Va., Oct. 28, 1840; son of John and Mary (Daniels) Fifer. His father was a bricklayer and removed with his family to McLean county, Ill., in 1857, where he built a log cabin and opened a farm in the wilderness. Joseph's early educational advantages were limited to the district school. In 1861 with his brother George, he walked fifteen miles to Bloomington, Ill., and there enlisted in the 33d Illinois regiment. He took part in the Vicksburg campaign of 1863. He was severely wounded at Jackson, Miss., July 13, 1863, and was incapacitated from further active service. His term of enlistment expired in 1864 and He returned home and began a course of study, determining to gain a college education and pay his own expenses in the meantime. This he did by serving as tax collector, working at bricklaying and cutting cord-wood. He was graduated at Illinois Wesleyan university B.S. in 1868, and was admitted to the bar in June, 1869, beginning practice at Bloomington. He was corporative counsel for the city in 1871; state's attorney for McLean county, 1872-79; state senator, 1880-84, and governor of Illinois, 1889-92. He was defeated for re-election in 1892 by John B. Altgeld, Democrat. In 1896 he was a prominent candidate for the vice-presidency before the Republican national convention and in November, 1899, was appointed by President McKinley an inter-state commerce commissioner. He was a trustee of Illinois Wesleyan university, 1891-93, and received the degree of LL.D. from that institution in 1892.

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