Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 3.djvu/98

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

president of the Norfolk & Tennessee Railroad Company. He was defeated in 1878 for the nomination for governor, but became the leader of the Readjuster party, and in 1880 was elected United States senator, serving until 1887, when he was deflated for a re-election. He died in Washington City, October 8, 1895.

Marshall, Charles, born in Warrenton, Virginia, October 3, 1830, son of Alexander John Marshall, and a descendant of John Marshall, of Westmoreland county, and Elizabeth Markham, his wife; was a student af the University of Virginia, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1846, and Master of Arts in 1849; was professor of mathematics at the University of Indiana from 1849 to 1852; then studied law, was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of his profession in Baltimore, Maryland; in 1861, at the outbreak of the civil war, he returned to his native state, joined the Confederate army the following year, and served on the personal staff of Gen. Robert E. Lee as assistant adjutant and inspector-general with the rank of first lieutenant; from 1862 to 1865 he served as major and aide-de-camp to Gen. Lee and served with him in the Army of Northern Virginia; attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and with Gen. Horace Porter he arranged the terms of the surrender of the Confederate army at Appomattox, and he prepared a general order containing Gen. Lee's address to his army; Mr. Marshall wrote a book entitled "Life of General Robert E. Lee"; he practiced his profession in Baltimore, Maryland, from 1865 to 1902, a period of almost four decades; his death occurred in Baltimore, Maryland, April 19, 1902.

Maury, Matthew Fontaine, an eminent scientist, born in Spottsyivania county, Virginia, January 14, 1806, son of Richard and Diana Minor Maury. When he was five years old, his father emigrated to Tennessee and settled near Franklin. He attended an old field school and studied at Harpeth Academy, of which he was an instructor. At nineteen he obtained a midshipman's warrant and went on a cruise around the world. In 1831 though only a passed midshipman, he was given command of several vessels. He returned home in 1834 and published a popular text book on navigation. In 1837 he was promoted lieutenant, and in 1839 met with a painful accident, which disabled him. and caused lameness for life. He began the publication of a series of articles in the "Southern Literary Messenger" on the navy, which he called "Scraps from the Lucky Bag" and which he signed "Harry Bluff." They made a great impression, and the "National Intelligencer" advocated his appointment as secretary of the navy. In these papers he urged inland fortification and a few big guns on ships of war instead of many small guns. When it became known that Maury was the author, he was placed, in 1843, in charge of the Depot of Charts and Instruments at Washington, which was soon converted into the National Observatory. He studied the winds and currents of the ocean and issued a series of charts, which obtained for him the name of "The Pathfinder of the Seas." The ship masters by following his "Sailing Directions" saved much valuable time. It was while tabulating the data for this work that he wrote his "Physical Geography of the Sea" and its Meteorology." Orders of knighthood were offered him by many for--