Venable, Charles S. (Charles Scott), 1827-1900

Confederate officer, aide to Robert E. Lee, and professor of mathematics at South Carolina College (1857-1862) and at the University of Virginia following the Civil War until retirement in 1893; author of several mathematics text books; born at "Longwood", in Prince Edward County, Va.; husband of Margaret Cantey McDowell.

Confederate officer, aide to Robert E. Lee, and professor of mathematics at the University of Virginia.

Born on his father Nathaniel Venable’s estate in Prince Edward County, Virginia, Charles Scott Venable (1827-1900) attended Hampden-Sydney College and the University of Virginia before becoming a mathematics professor at Hampden-Sydney. In 1856, he married Margaret Cantey McDowell, daughter of Governor James McDowell, and the couple eventually had five children. That same year, Venable joined the University of Georgia’s faculty and, in 1857, moved again to South Carolina College. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Confederate Army. In 1862, General Robert E. Lee chose Venable as one of his aides, and the two men remained close throughout the war. Following Lee’s surrender in 1865, Venable returned to the University of Virginia as a lieutenant colonel. He spent the next 31 years on the university’s mathematics faculty, serving as its chair from 1870 to 1873 and 1886 to 1888. Furthermore, Venable wrote textbooks for the university when they were unavailable during Reconstruction, helped establish its observatory, and was instrumental in procuring funds for seven new science departments. After Margaret’s death in 1874, he married Mary Southall Brown, widow of Colonel J. Thompson Brown, with whom he had a son.

Source:

“ Charles Scott Venable .” Leander McCormick Observatory Museum. University of Virginia Department of Astronomy. Accessed March 10, 2011.

Born on his father Nathaniel Venable's estate in Prince Edward County, Virginia, Charles Scott Venable (1827-1900) attended Hampden-Sydney College and the University of Virginia before becoming a mathematics professor at Hampden-Sydney.

In 1856, he married Margaret Cantey McDowell, daughter of Governor James McDowell, and the couple eventually had five children. That same year, Venable joined the University of Georgia's faculty and, in 1857, moved again to South Carolina College. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Confederate Army. In 1862, General Robert E. Lee chose Venable as one of his aides, and the two men remained close throughout the war. Following Lee's surrender in 1865, Venable returned to the University of Virginia as a lieutenant colonel. He spent the next 31 years on the university's mathematics faculty, serving as its chair from 1870 to 1873 and 1886 to 1888. Furthermore, Venable wrote textbooks for the university when they were unavailable during Reconstruction, helped establish its observatory, and was instrumental in procuring funds for seven new science departments. After Margaret's death in 1874, he married Mary Southall Brown, widow of Colonel J. Thompson Brown, with whom he had a son.

Source:

"Charles Scott Venable." Leander McCormick Observatory Museum. University of Virginia Department of Astronomy. Accessed March 10, 2011.