New posts to resume Jan. 3, 2012

Postings to the blog will be suspended from December 22, 2011 through January 2, 2012, while Randolph-Macon college is in winter recess.

John Henry Maclin, student 1854-1855

John Henry Maclin, brother of Thomas B. Maclin, initially enlisted as a private in the Brunswick Guards, Company A of the 5th Battalion VA Infantry but on August 19, 1861 he transferred to Company E of the 12th Virginia Infantry (the Petersburg Rifles). He was discharged for disability on April 28, 1862. Sometime in 1863, he enlisted in the Petersburg Cavalry, Company E of the13th VA, and served until the war's end.

After the war, he started a tobacco firm in Petersburg, VA, which became one on the largest in the state. He died April 1, 1923 and is buried in Petersburg's Blandford Cemetery.

James D. Isbell, student 1834-1835

James D. Isbell enlisted in Company G of the 3rd VA Cavalry as a private on May 18, 1861.  He was promoted to 2nd lieutenant September 15, 1861 and to captain on March 17, 1862.  He died of disease on August 5, 1862.

The 1860 census for Cumberland County, VA lists him as a farmer and indicates he was a fairly wealthy landowner and slaveholder.

Robert Alexander Stainback, student 1860-1861

Robert Alexander Stainback enlisted as a private in the 56th VA Infantry, Co. E, on July 10, 1861. He was taken prisoner at Fort Donelson, TN, and sent to Camp Morton, IN in March 1862. He was exchanged at Vicksburg, MS, on August 24, 1862.  Stainback was promoted to 1st lieutenant on December 31, 1863 and then to captain in August, 1864. He was taken prisoner at Sailor's Creek, VA, on April 6, 1865 and sent to Johnson's Island, OH, where he remained until he took the Oath of Allegiance on June 20, 1865.

After the war, he moved to Clarke County, MS, where the 1880 census lists his occupation as merchant. The 1888 Southern Insurance Directory lists him as the sole insurance agent in Quitman, Clarke County, MS.

Nicholas Everett Edmunds, student 1858-1859

Edmunds enlisted as a private in Company E of the 56th Virginia Infantry on July 10, 1861. He ws wounded in the head June 27, 1862 at the Battle of Gaines' Mill, part of the Seven Days' Battles, and hopitalized in Richmond. He was subsequently discharged from the infantry and then sometime in 1863 joined Company B of the 32nd VA Cavalry Battalion, where he was promoted to 1st lieutenant. By late 1863, he was lieutenant of Company E of the 41st VA Cavalry Battalion, then captain of Company H and then captain of Company I. He moved to Co. G of the 9th VA Cavalry, and he surrendered at Appomattox Court House as commander of the 9th VA Cavalry.

After the war, he moved first to Mississippi and then to Texas, where he taught school.  He died April 6, 1920 and was buried first in the Wilkinson Family Cemetery in Wilkinson Valley, Bell County, TX. His remains were moved to Cedar Knob Cemetery in Bell County, TX when the valley was flooded for a reservoir.

Gregory Weldon Claiborne, student 1854-1855

Son of a Methodist minister and younger brother of Dr. John Herbert Claiborne, Gregory Weldon Claiborne studied medicine at the University of Virginia and in New York City after leaving Randolph-Macon. He enlisted as a private in Company A of the 12th VA Infantry on April 18, 1861, and served as Hospital Steward under his brother, Dr. John Herbert Claiborne. He transferred to the 5th Virginia Cavalry, Co. D, on September 1, 1861, and then transferred Co. B of the 13th VA Cavalry on May 15, 1862, serving as Assistant Surgeon. He later was promoted to Surgeon and served in the Confederate Navy. He died January 25, 1866 of disease acquired during his military service, and is buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, VA.

John Williams Corbin Davis, student 1857-1858

Younger brother of Robert Beale Davis and Wilbur Fisk Davis, John W. C. Davis joined the "Potomac Rifles," Company K of the 40th VA Infantry, on May 25, 1861 with his older half-brother Robert. He was wounded on June 27, 1862 at the Battle of Gaines' Mill (VA), part of the Seven Days' Battles. He returned to duty in October, 1862 and then was discharged for disability and assigned to the Engineer Corps, serving as a  topographical engineer.

After the war, he was an instructor in mathematics at the University of Virignia in 1870, was involved in the founding of Virginia Tech, served in the state Senate, and by 1880 is listed in the census as a  farmer at Hickory Hill, a plantation in Westmoreland County, VA he and his surviving brother, Wilbur Fisk Davis, inherited in Westmoreland County, VA after the war, where he died June 19, 1913. Davis is buried with other family members in the graveyard at the Hickory Hill plantation in Westmoreland County.

Robert Beale Davis, student 1848-1849

Robert Beale Davis, older half-brother of Wilbur Fisk Davis and John Williams Corbin Davis, studied law and attended the University of Virginia after leaving Randolph-Macon. He was practicing law in Westmoreland County, VA, when he enlisted on May 25, 1861 as 1st lieutenant in the 40th VA Infantry, Co. K, the "Potomac Rifles." He was promoted to captain on April 23, 1862.

He was killed leading his men in battle October 1, 1864, near Peebles' Farm in Dinwiddie County, part of the Siege of Petersburg, VA, and buried by the Union Army. According to correspondence from General U.S. Grant to General Robert E. Lee and from General Lee to the captain's mother, his body was disinterred in January 1865 and returned to his family under a flag of truce, and was ultimately buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg.

Joseph Claiborne Davis, Preparatory Department student, late 1850s

Joseph Claiborne Davis, younger brother of William Hoomes Davis and Richard Beale Davis, enlisted as a private in the "Richmond Howitzers," the 1st Company, Virginia Light Artillery. He was taken prisoner of war and was imprisoned at Hart's Island, NY, where he was released on June 20, 1865 upon taking the Oath of Allegiance. He returned to Virginia, attended the University of Virginia and then became a farmer. Davis died January 2, 1926 in Danville, VA and is buried in Blandfrod Cemetery in Petersburg, VA.

Richard Beale Davis, student 1860-1861

Richard Beale Davis, brother of William Hoomes Davis and Joseph Claiborne Davis, enlisted as a private in Company E of the 12th Virginia Infantry on April 2, 1862. He was wounded by a shell two months later on June 2, 1862 at the Battle of Seven Pines, VA. He was wounded again, in the right arm, on July 30, 1864 in Petersburg, VA during the Battle of the Crater. He surrendered with the remnants of his company at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

After the war, Davis attended the University of Virginia and became a lawyer in Petersburg, VA. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1875-1877 and 1901-1903, and also served as a trustee of Randolph-Macon College. He died July 11, 1917 and is buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, VA.

William G. DeGraffenried(t), Class of 1846

At the beginning of the war, DeGraffenried (variantly spelled "DeGraffenriedt") was a physician, county coroner, and small slaveholder in Colorado County, Texas, where he and his brother Thomas Tscharner DeGraffenried, also a doctor, had moved ca. 1855. In 1859, he left medicine to serve as principal of Columbus Seminary which the next year evolved into Columbus High School. In the fall of 1860, DeGraffenreid left teaching to return to medicine.

On August 17, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company A of the 5th Texas Cavalry. He was discharged on October 26, 1861 and the joined the Field & Staff of the 3rd TX Infantry as asssistant surgeon. Degraffenried resigned on May 30, 1862.  He died in Columbus, Texas on December 3, 1867.

Joseph Chappell Hutcheson, student 1857-1861

Joseph Chappell Hutcheson, brother of John William Hutcheson, enlisted as a private in the 21st VA Infantry, Co. C, on June 20, 1861 and served through at least June of 1862. There is then a gap in his service record until he enlisted in October, 1864 in Co. E of the 14th VA Infantry. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on June 15, 1862. He surrendered as captain of his unit at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865 and was paroled on May 9, 1865.

Hutcheson received a law degree from the University of Virginia after the war and moved to Texas, where he practiced law and was elected first to the Texas legislature and then to the U.S. Congress, where he served from 1893-1897.  He died May 25, 1924 and is buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Houston, TX.

Wilbur Fisk Davis, Class of 1857 (A.B.) and 1860 (A.M.)

Davis enlisted in the Charlottesville (VA) Light Artillery on March 20, 1862. He was promoted to corporal on April 30, 1863 and then to sergeant major a month later on June 1, 1863. he was taken prisoner on May 12, 1864 at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, held at Fort Delaware, and paroled on October 31, 1864. He rejoined his unit in December 1864, but was transferred to the Veteran Reserve, or Invalid, Corps' Topographical Engineer Department in February 1865. 

Davis was a teacher in Westmoreland County in 1870.  He became a Methodist minister in 1876 and served several circuits in Virginia, finally settling back in Westmoreland County, where the 1910 census lists him as "Preacher of Gospel" and where he died in 1912 and is buried in the Hickory Hill Cemetery.

Thomas Tscharner DeGraffenried(t), student 1849-1850

At the beginning of the war, DeGraffenried (variantly spelled "DeGraffenriedt") was a physician residing in Texas, where he and his brother William G. DeGraffenried, also a doctor, had moved ca. 1855.  He enlisted at Columbus TX  as a private in Co. B of the 5th Texas Infantry ("Echo Company") on July 10, 1861. The company arrived in Richmond, VA in September 17, 1862. The company saw significant action in the summer of 1862 before DeGraffenried was sent back to Texas where he served as a hospital nurse from September 1862-December 1863. He returned to Virginia, where he was hospitalized himself for much of 1864 before being assigned as  brigade dentist in November 1864.

He surrendered with 8 other remaining soldiers from his company at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865 and was paroled. Dr. DeGraffenried returned to Columbus, TX and practiced dentistry, discontinuing his practice shrotly before his death on August 15, 1875 due to consumption and tongue cancer. He is buried in Clear Creek Cemetery in Colorado County, TX.

John William Hutcheson, student 1846-1850

John William Hutcheson, brother of Joseph Chappell Hutcheson, enlisted as captain of the "Grimes County Greys," later Company G of the 4th Texas Infantry on July 19, 1861. Hutcheson was mortally wounded on June 27, 1861, leading his unit at the Battle of Gaines' Mill (also known as the First Battle of Cold Harbor or the Battle of Chickahominy River), part of the Seven Days Battles in the Peninsula Campaign in Virginia. He died in Richmond, VA two days later on June 29, 1862 and was buried in the family cemetery, the Charles S. Hutcheson Cemetery, also known as the Hutcheson-Riddick Family Cemetery, in Mecklenburg, County, VA.

Prior to the war, Hutcheson received a law degree at the University of Virginia in 1852, then moved to Texas in 1853, where he practiced law. He was a member of the Succession Convention responsible for passing Texas' Ordinance of Secession on February 1, 1861.

Robert Augustus Armistead, student 1852-1853

Robert Armistead, brother of George Wesley Armistead, enlisted in Confederate service on April 4, 1861 at Richmond Virginia as a private. Serving in the "1st" company of the Virginia Howitzers, Light Artillery, he was twice promoted, first to corporal within a month of his enlistment and then to 2nd Lieutenant in November, 1861. Robert Armistead survived the War and died in 1894.

George Wesley Armistead, class of 1857 (A. B.) and 1860 (A.M.)

George Armistead served in the "4th" company of the Virginia Howitzers, Light Artillery (his brother, Robert Augustus Armistead, served in the "1st" company). In 1863 he transferred into the Surry Light Artillery. In November 1863, he reenlisted as Acting Master in the Confederate Navy. George Armisted survived the war and died in 1895 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

John Cowper Granbery, class of 1848 A.B.; 1869 A.M.

John Cowper Granbery enlisted in Confederate service on July 4, 1861 as Chaplain of the 11th Virginia Infantry. He was captured on June 28, 1862 at Mechanicsville, Virginia and was later exchanged on July 15. he lost the sight in one eye from his wound during the Seven Days' Battles. Granbery was known as one of the  "Fighting Chaplains."

After the war, Granbery taught at Vanderbilt University. In 1882, he was elected Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.  He went to Brazil in the 1880s, where he organized the Brazil Mission Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. He returned to the U.S., retiring to Ashland, VA, near Randolph-Macon College.

Edward Archibald Allen, student 1861-1862

Edward Archibald Allen enlisted in Company C of the 13th Virginia Cavalry as a private.  After the war, Allen attended the University of Virginia, graduating in 1868. He was an English professor at the University of Missouri for 25 years and published extensively on grammar and other topics. He died in 1922 and is buried in Suffolk, VA, in Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Algernon F. Grizzard, student 1860-1861

Algernon F. Grizzard joined the 16th Virginia Infantry, Company E, on July 11, 1861 as a private. Grizzard was discahrged for disability on October 30, 1861 due to pulmonary disease.  He re-entered his unit on December 15, 1861, but was hospitalized October 29, 1862 at Camp Winder Hospital in Richmond. He died December 30, 1862.

Littleton W. Godfrey, student 1852-1853

Littleton W. Godfrey, who is recorded as owning over a hundred slaves in the 1860 slave cansus, enlisted on April 22, 1861 as a private in the 41st VA Infantry, Co. F. He was promoted to corporal in July, 1861, and later to 2nd lieutenant. Godfrey transferred to Co. E of the 7th VA Battalion on Decemnber 15, 1861, and then transferred to the 61st VA Infantry, Co. E (the "Border Rifles") on August 8, 1862.  Godfrey was wounded at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, and was hospitalized twice in 1864 in Richmond, once for sunstroke and once for fever. He mustered out on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House.

Ashland C. Gale, student 1861-1862

Ashland C. Gale, a Norfolk native, served in Captain Taylor's Company, Virginia Volunteers, known as the "Young Guards." Service is also recorded in the James City Light Artillery and the 4th Bn. Local Defense Infantry.  He was a private in Richardson's company of the James City Artillery when he was taken prisoner at the end of the war and released in June, 1865. After the war, Gale was a clerk and bookkeeper in family member's businesses through the 1890s. The 1900 census lists him as a patient at the Virginia Southwestern State Hospital, an asylum for the mentally ill.