Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 3.djvu/293

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PROMINENT PERSONS


253


Kentucky, went to Mineral City, now Big Stone Gap, and there they practiced suc- cessfully until they dissolved partnership in 1894. The following year Mr. Bullitt formed a partnership with J. L. Kelly, hav- ing offices at Big Stone Gap, and at Bristol, Virginia. While their practice is a general one, it is chiefly connected with corporation v^ork, and the firm of Bullitt & Kelly is a -well known one. In 1885 and 1886 he served at a member of the Kentucky legislature, and was a candidate for congress in Vir- ginia in 1896, but withdrew because of his dissatisfaction with the Chicago platform. He was first lieutenant and then captain of the Crescent Hill Guards (Cavalry), this later becoming Company E, of the Louisville Legion. He and his partner, Mr. Mc- Dowell, organized the "Police Guard," of Big Stone Gap, about forty of the best men of the town joining this body. Mr. Bullitt was elected captain, and Big Stone Gap be- came a model town of the west. This body IS still in existence, and is mentioned in the dedication of "Blue-Grass and Rhododen- dron," by John Fox, Jr. who says : "To Joshua Bullitt, Henry Clay McDowell, Horace Fox, the first three captains of the Guard." One of the stories in this book, "Civilizing the Cumberland." contains an account of the "Police Guard" and its cap- tain. Mr. Bullitt is the author of: "Panics and their Causes," "New Woman," "Trusts and Labor Unions," and "Objections to the Torrens System." His address is Big Stone Gap, Wise county, Virginia.

Mr. Bullitt married, in 1885. Mrs. Maggie Talbott Churchill, only daughter of Jere- miah J. Talbott, of Jeflferson county, Ken- tucky.


Mears, Otho Frederick, born near Keller. -\ccomac county, \'irginia, June 4, 1862, son of Benjamin W\ Mears and Emma S. Mapp, his wife, is a descendant of a family, whose ancestors settled on the Eastern Shore at ail early date. He studied at Onancock Academy, and at Randolph-Macon College, where he pursued his studies for two years. Upon his return to the Eastern Shore, he taught school for five years. He next stud- ied law under John B. Minor and James H. Gilmore at the University of Virginia, from which he was graduated June 30, 1886. .After his admission to the bar, he located for active practice in .Accomac, and shortly afterward formed a business connection with Thomas C. Walston, and then removed to Eastville, where the partners conducted a successful business until the death of Mr. Walston, which occurred in December, 1SS7. since which time Mr. Mears has de- \oted his entire time to his private practice, to the duties pertaining to the office of com- monwealth's attorney, to which he was elected twice. Mr. Mears married, Novem- ber 19, 1890, Florence R. Holland, daughter of N. L. Holland. His address is Eastville, Virginia.

Summers, Lewis Preston, was born four and a half miles west of Abingdon, Wash- ington county, Virginia, November 2, 1868, a son of John Calhoun Summers and Nannie Montgomery Preston, his wife, who was a daughter of John F. Preston, of Locust Glen, Washington county, \'irginia, and a sister of the later Dr. Robert J. Preston, superintendent of the \\'estern State Hos- pital for a number of years. The immigrant ancestor of Mr. Summers in the paternal line was George Summers, of Flemish