Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 3.djvu/354

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3'o


\1RG1.\IA BIOGRAPHY


has executed portrait-busts and bas-relief-j of John A. Kennedy, William Page. K Swain (iifford. Arthur Ouartley, Puiyard Taj'lor (for the memorial tablet in Cornell University), W'inslow Plomer, Erminnie A. Smith, and Edmund C. Stedman. His larger works include the Tarrytown monument to the captors of Major Andre ; a statue of \\'ashington for the government of Vene- zuela; two flags for the soldier's monuiDent at Lawrence, Massachusetts ; two bas-reliefs for the monument in Herkimer countv, New York, commemorating the battle of Ons- kany, and a statue of Washington for the monument at Newburg. W'ashington is one of his favorite subjects, and he has ])nb- lishcd a series of papers on his portrait^'.

Van de Vyver, Augustine, born at Hoes- (lonck, Belgium, December i, 1844. He was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood in Brussels, Belgium, in 1870, and was con- secrated bishop of Richmond, Virginia, Oc- tober 20, 1889.

Baker, William Washington, born Octo- ber 20, 1 84 4., ne;.r Hallsboro, Chesterfield count), \'irginia, son of John Daniel Baker

-rid Ann Elizabeth, daughter of William

Howard and Mary Taylor, his wife. He was brouglu up in the country, but was trail in his youth, and did not perform any severe manual labor. His mother died when he was only nine years of age. He attended a private school taught by Dr. R. B. W in- free, and at the age of twelve, in 185(1, at hi.s own desire, began his apprenticeship in the office of the Danville "Register." After- wards he worked on the Richmond "En- t|Uirer," where he had charge of the print- ing and press rooms, and mailing at night. Iri the sijring of 1863 he enlisted in the pri-


vateer service of the Confederate navy un- der Capt. John Yates Beall. His service v»as on Chesapeake Bay, crippling the com- merce of the enemy and destroying light- houses. In September, 1863, when sharing with fifteen others in an attempt to surprise a Federal gunboat, he was captured and confined in irons in Fort McHenry, near Bal- timore, for nearly six weeks. To save him and his associates from being shot as priva- teers, the Confederate authorities held an equal number of Federal prisoners in irons ir. Charleston, South Carolina, as hostages for their proper treatment as prisoners of war. This had its effect ; the irons were removed from Mr. Baker, and he was trans- ferred to Fortress ]\Ionroe and afterwards to Fort Norfolk and later to Point Look- out, where in the spring of 1864 he was ex- changed, and proceeded to Richmond. There he was placed on light duty as clerk in Provost Marshal Carrington's office, and n-mained until the evacuation of Richmond, being among the last to leave the city. He then joined Gen. Lee's army at Amelia Court House, and was with the Twenty-fifth Virginia Regiment in the battle of Sailors Creek. He rejoined the army at High Bridge, and connected himself with a Texas regiment with which he served until the surrender at Appomattox Court House. After being paroled, he set out for Richmond, but at Jude's Ferry took work on a farm. Later he formed a partnership with .\. T.. B. \\'. and J. II. Martin, under the name of Martin Brothers iv Baker, for manufactur- ing lumber, grinding sumac and tanning leather, at Hallsboro and Manchester, \'ir- ginia, and after the death of his partners, he succeeded to the business, which he still conducts. He has served as justice of the