i66
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
part in almost every engagement on Vir-
ginia soil. At Lee's surrender he was in-
spector-general of the horse artillery of the
Army of Xorthern \'irginia. After the war
he wrote a "Life of General Lee," a "Life
of Stonewall Jackson," and over twenty
novels. His publications not already men-
tioned include "Henry St. John, Gentleman,"
a sequel to the "Comedians;" "Surrey of
Eagle's Xest." which is an autobiography
depicting military incidents in the Confed-
erate cavalry: "Hilt to Hilt," "Out of the
Foam :" "Hammer and Rapier," and ".Stories
of the Old Dominion," from the settlement
until the end of the revolution. Nearly all
his writings relate to Virginia life, past and
present. Besides he wrote a vast number
of sketches, stories, poems, etc., for period-
icals, which have never been collected in
permanent form. He died at his home, The
Briars, near Boyce, Clark county, Virginia,
September 20, 1886.
Uavis, Noah Knowles, born at Philadel- phia, Alay 15, 1830, son of Rev. Noah Davis, of Salisbury, Maryland, and Mary Young, cf Alexandria, Virginia, his wife. He is of Welsh descent, his American ancestor and great-great-grandfather being John Davis, a native of South Wales, who settled near Salisbury, Maryland. Daniel Davis, grand- son of John Davis, was elder of the Salis- bury Baptist church forty years, and died in 1856. His son, Rev. Noah Davis, was pastor of the Baptist church in Norfolk, later removing to Philadelphia, where he was given charge of the publication inter- ests of the Baptists of the United States. Il was due to his efforts that tlie American Baptist Publication Society was established, and while in its service he died at the age
of twenty-seven years, leaving a widow and
infant. Some years later his widow married
Rev. John L. Dagg, of Virginia, and the
family removed to Alabama. Noah Knowles
Davis commenced his education in schools
of Alabama, where the early years of his
life were spent, and after proper preparation
matriculated at Mercer University in
Georgia, from which he was graduated in
1849, the degree of Bachelor of Arts being
conferred upon him. Later the same insti-
tution conferred the degrees of Master of
Arts and Doctor of Philosophy, while Bay-
lor University bestowed the degree of Doc-
tor of Laws. He prepared in the north for
his career as an instructor, accepted a chair
in Howard College. Alabama, and was sub-
sequently appointed to the principalship of
the Judson Institute. In 1868 he accepted
the appointment as president of Bethel Col-
lege, Kentucky, and while actively dis-
charging the duties of this ofifice, was ap-
pointed to the chair of moral philosophy in
the University of \'irginia in 1873. Upon
the completion of his thirty-third year at
the university, he was invited to accept a
life annuity on the Carnegie foundation, and
retired from active duties, July i, 1906, be-
coming professor emeritus of philosophy in
the University of Virginia. He gained emi-
nence in his career as an instructor. His
teachings were not altogether oral, his facile
pen being also in evidence. More than fifty
schools and colleges in the United States
adopted his treatises on logic, ethics and psy-
chology as text books, and he was a liberal
contributor to periodical literature. For
more than a quarter of a century he has de-
livered I'liljlical lectures on .Sunday after-
noons at the LIniversity of \'irginia, and
tliese have been published in book form
