896
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
T)-ler, through whom he obtained the ap-
pointment in the United States naval serv-
ice, entering the service as a midshipman
during the Mexican war. He entered the
United States Military Aeademy at Annap-
olis, Maryland, and graduated in the noted
class of 1841. Before entering the academy
he made a cruise with Commodore Charles
Skinner to the coast of Africa. He was sub-
sequently employed in the coast survey. Then
a long cruise in the Mediterranean. Then a
three years' cruise in the Pacific. In the Con-
federate naval service, he was engaged first
in drilling troops at the naval hospital, and
was stationed for months at Drury's Bluft.
Then with Captain John B. Tucker on gun-
boat Patrick Henry, in the fight in Hamp-
ton Roads between the Mcrrimac and Moni-
tor. The last two years of the war he was
at Charleston, South Carolina. He was an
ofScer on the vessel which brought Kossuth,
the noted Polish patriot, to this country.
After the close of the war he engaged in
teaching, and for many years following 1865
was principal of one of the Norfolk schools,
after which he retired from active life. He
was an earnest adherent of the Protestant
Episcopal church, a man of generous im-
pulses, devoting much of his time and re-
sources to the relief of sufferers during the
war. With domestic tastes, and a desire for
study, he did not ally himself with any of
the civic organizations, and devoted himself
to his home and family.
He married, December 20, 1855, Eliza Darragh Williams, born June 13, 1832,' daughter of John and Martha Julia (Armi- stead) Williams. John Williams was a son of Walter and Henrietta (\\'heeler) W^il- liams, and appears among the lists of slave owners in Princess Anne county in 1830-33- 40-44. Martha J. Armistead was the daughter of Theodorick Bland and Martha Julia ( New- ton) Armistead. The Armistead family is a very old one in Virginia, but the parentage of Theodorick Bland Armistead has not been discovered. He is supposed to have been a son of Robert Armistead, but there are mul- titudes of that name found in Virginia. The family descended from Anthony Armistead, who lived in Kirk Deighton, Yorkshire, Eng- land, where he was licensed in 1608 to marry Frances Thompson. Their son, William Armistead, was baptized August 3, 1610, in All Saints' Church, the only church in the parish of Kirk Deighton, and came to Vir-
ginia about 1635. In 1636 he received a
patent for four hundred and fifty acres of
land in Elizabeth City county, and later had
a grant in Gloucester county. He died be-
fore 1660. His wife's name was Anne, and
they had children : William, died before
1660; John, ancestor of President Harrison;
Anthony, ancestor of President Tyler; Fran-
ces, and probably Ralph. The Bland fam-
ily is also a very ancient one in \'irginia, de-
scending from Theodorick Bland, who was
early in Berkeley county, Virginia. His son,
Richard, born August 11, 1665, '"^ Berkeley
county, died April 6, 1720. He married
(first) Mary, daughter of Colonel Thomas
Swan, and (second) in 1701, Elizabeth,
daughter of William Randolph, of Turkey
Island. She died January 22. 1720. Of their
five children, the youngest, Theodorick, was
born 1719, married, in 1739, Frances, daugh-
ter of Drury Boiling. They were the par-
ents of Colonel Theodorick Bland, M. D.,
statesman, soldier and poet, born March 21,
1742. He was captain and later colonel in
the revolution ; was a member of the pro-
vincial congress in 1780 and 1783; was op-
posed to the constitution adopted by the
state, but was later elected a member of
congress under that constitution. The Isle
of Wight county records show in 1678 that
John Bland, a merchant of London, gave
power to his wife Sarah, then in Virginia, to
settle his accounts there. His four sons
started for Virginia, one dying on the voy-
age. This was probably Theodorick Bland,
of Berkeley and Weston, as his widow is
mentioned in the power of attorney given
by John Bland in 1678. Thomas Bland came
to Virginia about 1654, and married Ann,
daughter of Richard Bennett ; had a son
Theodorick, who died in 1702, leaving a
son Theodorick. Undoubtedly Theodorick
Bland Armistead was descended from one
of these.
William and Eliza Darragh (Williams) Sharp had four children: i. John Williams, born October 10, 1856, died 1878. 2. Julia Willoughby, born July 20, 1861 ; married Colonel Willoughby \V'alke, and had chil- dren : Julia Willoughby Walke, married Captain James Totten, and had Willoughby and John ; Margaret Darragh. married Lieu- tenant Robert Garrett ; \\'illoughby, died at the age of seven years. 3. William Wil- loughby, born February 9, 1863; is a broker in New York City; he married, June i, 1896,
