Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/272

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206


VIRGIXIA BIOGRAPHY


commanding position in its line that it now occupies has been in a particular manner his lifework, and into its organization has been injected much of that stability, hon- esty, and rugged independence of his own nature, so that, meritorious and strong, it finds in worthy competition a source of ever- increasing strength.

The high standing of Mr. Sherwood in the business world of Portsmouth has made it inevitable that his services should be sought in executive and advisory capacity by other institutions of the locality. He was for three years chairman of the com- mittee of managers of the Norfolk & Ports- mouth Ferries ; vice-president of the Bank of Portsmouth ; former president of the Portsmouth 61: Deep Creek Turnpike Com- pany, having been connected with it since the building of the road that it owned, and treasurer of the Portsmouth & Norfolk County Building and Loan Association, one of the largest in the state, which- olilice he has held since its organization through election for thirty successive times. In the planning and perfecting of the mammoth arrangements for the Jamestown Exposition he played a part of great importance, being a member of the board of directors, vice- president of the board of governors, and governor of the department of admissions and concessions. During the continuance of this exhibition, as in the months and years preceding its opening, he devoted him- self with unflagging energy to his multi- farious duties, and that event placed much in history to the credit of Virginia.

For a period of four years Mr. Sherwood filled a position that his father had occupied in previous years on the Portsmouth coun- cil, and for six years was city auditor. In his identification with the Court Street Baptist Church in official capacity, that of clerk, he likewise followed in the path of his honored parent, who devoted himself to its service with untiring fidelity. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of the World, the Improved Order of Red Men. the Knights of Pythias, of which he is past chancellor commander, and the Masonic order, in which he has passed all the chairs in Seaboard Lodge. Xo. 56, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and belongs to Chapter No. 5. Royal .\rch Masons.

Mr. SluM'wood married. June 12. 1871,


]\Iary Ella, daughter of William E. and Vir- ginia ( Billups ) Carhart. and they are the parents of four children : Mabel, born in 1872. married, in 1894, William P. Harrell ; Mary Virginia, born in 1878, married Earn- est H. Hartsell, deceased ; Calder Smith Jr., of whom further; Jennie C. born in 1886.

(IV) Calder Smith Sherwood Jr., son of Calder Smith and Mary Ella (Carhart) Sherwood, was born in Portsmouth, \Tr- ginia, in 1882. His preparatory education was obtained in institutions of Portsmouth, after which he studied in the University of Virginia, then became associated with his father and learned the jewelry business. Upon the incorporation of the business in 1908, Mr. Sherwood became treasurer of the corporation and, as previously stated, added to his responsibilities in this position tlie duties of secretary upon the death of Earn- est H. Hartsell. the former incumbent of that ofBce. Mr. Sherwood is president of the Portsmouth Young Men's Chrisiian As- sociation, and was a member of the com- mittee in charge of the erection of che new building that houses the association. He is a member of the Baptist church, the Knights of Pythias, and the ^Masonic order, holding membership in lodge, chapter and com- mandery, a past master of Seaboard Lodge, No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons. True to the name that he bears, he is a citizen of admirable parts, and is accorded the cordial liking and wholesome respect of his fellows. Mr. Sherwood married, in 1908, Lessie Wal- lace, and has one son, Calder Smith 3rd., born November, 191 1.

Alfred Leftwich Gray, M. D. This sur- name is evolved from De Croy, and was first borne by a descendant of Rolf, a Norman chief, who, in the ninth century, in\aded France. This descendant received from Robert, Duke of Normandy, the castle and honor of Croy, from which the family as- sumed the name, later De Gray, and finally Gray. The name came to England with William the Conqueror, where it became Grey, the Scotch branch using the form Gray. Nesbit's Heraldry mentions "Pagan- us de Gray, ecjuitum signifer to King Wil- liam" and "Gray, Earl of Kent, chief of the ancient and illustrious house of Gray." From Burke's Peerage it is learned that "the family of Gray is of great antiquity in Northumberland." The earliest record of