VIRGINIA BIOGRAniY
771
and profit. He was held in the highest
esteem as a Biblical and Shakesperian
scholar, his conversation teeming with apt
quotations from both sources. He received
many honors during his long career, but
none more pleasing to him than his honor-
ary membership in the Phi Beta Kappa fra-
ternit)-, an honor conferred by \\'illiam and
Mary, the mother chapter of all. Ever a
believer that "the worship of the Divine
Manhood of Jesus Christ is the only solution
of the problem of life." Mr. Williams, as he
advanced in years, believed, with ever in-
creasing strength of conviction, the need of
faith in the large and eternal purpose that
governs the destinies of men and nations.
In a recent letter he declared : "Without
our holy religion, life is not worth living.
The bases of our civilization are the Old
Testament, with the great seal of the Ten
Commandments, and the New, with the
great seal of the Lord's Prayer."
A Democrat in politics, he never held any public office, but no duty pertaining to good citizenship was neglected. He gave to the state, stalwart sons who have worked with him and taken from his shoulders the bur- dens of business and vie with eacli other in exemplifying the teachings and virtues of their honored father.
Mr. Williams married. October 13, 1S64, Maria Ward Skelton, a great-granddaughter of Edmund Randolph, one of the closest of \\'ashington's lifelong associates, his attor- ney-general, and for a time secretary of state. Eight children of this marriage grew to maturity, one, a daughter, dying in youth- ful womanhood, and in her memory arose Richmond ^Memorial Hospital. In 1914 was celebrated the golden wedding of the par- ents. To few men is it given to see so per- fect a consummation of their life work. Per- sonally honored by all, this veteran citizen of such marked personality and consistent life, saw his city prosperous, his country united, his church triumphant, his sons in prominent, honored positions, and his own life overflowing with blessings. And amid it all he wrote: "^^'ithout our holy religion, life is not worth living." It is this high estimate of the value of the Christian re- ligion that made him the wise and useful man he was.
On the day following his death the "Rich- mond News-Leader" said, editoriallv:
Mr. Williams was a man of robust mind, of ro-
bust character, of rubust thought, the influences of
which touched a responsive and quickening chord
in every sphere in which he moved or his activities
were exerted, whether business, social or relig-
ious. Pure of life, inflexible in integrity of pur-
pose, warm and generous of heart, charitable in
impulse and deed, public-spirited in the fullest sense
of the term, and unafraid save of doing wrong, he
measured up to the stature and rounded out the
proportions of a model citizen. Possessed of a
broad, liberal education, gifted with a naturally
clear and avid intellect, which was refined and
cultivated by constant reading and study and com-
munion with the ancient and modern classics and
the Book of Books. Mr. Williams was an orna-
ment to any scholarly circle in contact with which
he was thrown. He was no less a Latinist and a
Grecian to the hour of his last ilhiess than he was
when he left the halls of the University of Vir-
ginia with his A. M. degree. His knowledge of
the humanities, of the great English standards in
literature and history, and of the Scriptures, was
wonderful. His faculty for applying their gems in
private conversation, and even in discussion of
practical business questions, was marvelous. It
was in recognition of his attainments and pursuits
in these fiflds that Washington and Lee Univer-
sity conferred upon him several years ago "causa
honoris." the degree of Doctor of Letters, a dis-
tinction no other man of purely commercial voca-
tion enjoyed from that institution. Mr. Williams
was a wise business and moral counselor, an ever-
dependable, loyal, and unselfish friend, and a Chris-
tian gentleman in all that noblest of triliutes sig-
nifies. Thnu shalt love the Lord thy God with
all they heart and with all thy soul and with all
they mind, and with all thy strength. This is the
first and the great commandment. And the sec-
ond is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. These commandments of his Master
were enshrined in the heart and soul and mind of
John Langbourne Williams. That no man in the
community ever strove more steadfastly to exem-
plify them in his daily walks and intercourse thou-
sands can testify. His life was a lamp to the feet
and a light to the path of his generation. May
that lamp and that light continue to shed their
rays no less guidingly now that his patriarchial
form shall be seen among us no more and his spirit
has passed to a glorified reward! Such must be
the hope and the trust of all who were blessed with
intimate association with Iiim.
Ennion Gifford Williams, M. D. Of dis- tinguished ancestry. Dr. Williams has added t(i the honor in which the name is held in Richmond by his untiring efforts in behalf of public health. His grandfather. John ^^'il- liams. came to Virginia about 1820, was a luisiness man of ]5rorninence in Richmond, and his honored father. John L. \\'illiams (fi. v.). is yet a resident of Richmond. John Williams married .Sianna Dandridge, daugh- ter of William and granddaughter of Judge Hartholomew Dandridge, whose sister was
