Grigsby, Hugh Blair, 1806-1881

Hugh Blair Grigsby, nineteenth-century Virginia historian, lived from 1806-1881. He served on the Board of Visitors and as Chancellor of the College of William and Mary.

James Barron Hope was born 23 March 1829 in Norfolk, Virginia. He was the grandson of James Barron and son of Wilton and Jane A. (Barron) Hope. James Barron Hope graduated from the College of William and Mary. He practiced law and was commonwealth's attorney for Norfolk. He married Anne Beverley Whiting. The couple had two daughters, Jane A. Barron (Janey Barron Marr) and Nanny Hope. Hope is known primarily for his poetry, serving as the official poet of the 250th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement. He published several volumes of writings and also edited newspapers. Hope died in 1887.

Historian and Virginia state legislator.

James Barron Hope was born 23 March 1829 in Norfolk, Virginia. He was the grandson of Commodore James Barron (1769-1851) and son of Wilton Hope and Jane Armistead (Barron) Hope (1791-1862). James Barron Hope graduated from the College of William and Mary. He practiced law and was the commonwealth's attorney for Norfolk. He married Annie Beverley Whiting (1825-1920) in 1857. The couple had two daughters, Jane ("Janey" or "Jennie") Barron Hope (b. 1859?) and Ann ("Nanny") Hope. James Barron Hope is known primarily for his poetry, serving as the official poet of the 250th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement. He published several volumes of writings and also edited newspapers. Hope died in 1887.

Benjamin Stoddert Ewell was born in Georgetown, D. C., 10 June 1810, the son of Thomas Ewell and Elizabeth Stoddert. He graduated from United States Military Academy and taught there. He taught at Hampden- Sydney College and at Washington College (now Washington and Lee University). In 1848, he was elected professor of mathematics and acting president of College of William and Mary and in 1854, became president. He was colonel of 32nd Virginia Infantry Regiment and later assistant adjutant-general to Joseph E. Johnston. He was president of William and Mary 1854-1888 and died 1894. He was the brother of Richard Stoddert Ewell, had another brother, William Stoddert, a sister Elizabeth S. Ewell and a daughter Elizabeth S. Ewell Scott.

Lawyer, journalist, and historian.

Charles Campbell (1807-1876) was born on 1 May 1807, in Petersburg, Virginia, the firstborn child of parents John Wilson Campbell (d.1842), and Mildred Walker Moore Campbell. John, a bookstore owner, was also a historian. In 1831 he published the History of Virginia to 1781 . Later, he held the position of Federal Collector of Customs in Petersburg, Virginia. Mildred taught at the Petersburg Classical Academy in the 1840's. In addition to Charles, the couple also had two younger children, Alexander (Aleck) S. Campbell, and Elizabeth (Betty) Campbell Maben (d.1871).

Charles' mother, Mildred Walker Moore Campbell, was the granddaughter of Virginia lieutenant governor Alexander Spotswood (1676-1740). Mildred Walker Moore Campbell and her siblings Mary Fairfax Moore Keller, Dr. Alexander Spotswood Moore, Ann Evelina Moore Henley, William Agustin Moore, Eliza Moore McDonald, and Lavinia Moore McPheeters wrote and received numerous pieces of personal correspondence that are available in this collection.

Charles Campbell attended the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) from 1823-1825. Upon graduation he enrolled in Henry St. George Tucker's School of Law in Winchester, Virginia. However, he suffered from chronic headaches which caused him severe physical and mental exhaustion. By 1829, these health issues would force him to leave the law profession.

Following his departure from law, Campbell worked as an engineer of the Petersburg Railroad. Later he ran a private school for boys in Glencoe, Alabama. On 13 September 1836, he married Elvira N. Callaway (1819-1837) of Monroe County, Tennessee. In 1837, Elvira died shortly after the birth of a son, Callaway Campbell (b.1837). In his distress, Campbell left his son with Elivira's siblings, Thomas and Lucinda Callaway. Later, this would result in a court case to regain custody of his child.

Following the death of his wife, Campbell worked as a clerk in the office of the Collector of Custom in Petersburg, Virginia (a position he obtained from his father John Campbell). From 1840-1843, Campbell also owned, published, and edited a Petersburg newspaper, The American Statesman . He returned to teaching in 1842 by opening a classical school in Petersburg, becoming both teacher and administrator in the Anderson Seminary. He would hold these positions until the formation of free public schools in 1870.

Campbell remarried in 1850 to Miss Anna Birdsall of Rahway, New Jersey. They had four children, Mary Spotswood Campbell Robinson (b.1852), Nanny Campbell (b.1854), Charles Campbell (b.1856), and Fanny Campbell (1858-1860's).

Charles Campbell was committed to Western Lunatic Asylum at Staunton, Virginia, in 1873 where he remained until his death on July 11, 1876. He was buried at Blandford Church Cemetery, Petersburg.

Like his father, Campbell was a historian. He began contributing to journals in 1834. Some of the journals to which he frequently contributed included; The Southern Literary Messenger or The Southern and Western Literary Messenger and Review ; The Farmer's Register ; The New Yorker ; and the Petersburg Intelligencer . His most important work, however, was the History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia . This work built upon his father's book and concerned Virginia history from the colony's founding to the Revolutionary War.