LAIRD, EDWARD CHAMBERS, M.D.
Edward Chambers Laird, M. D.  Through his mother, Virginia (Chambers) Laird, Dr. Laird traces descent from Judge Edward R. Chambers, of Mecklenburg county, Virginia, a member of the Virginia Convention of 1854 and secession convention of 1861.  Mrs. Laird's mother was Lucy Tucker, a daughter of Colonel John Tucker, of Brunswick county, Virginia, born November 8, 1770, died March 5, 1843.  Colonel Tucker was a prosperous planter, all his life a magistrate, a state senator, a Whig and presidential elector on the Clay ticket.  In the war of 1812 he commanded a regiment in active service at Norfolk, Virginia.  Colonel Tucker married.,May 8, 1803, Agnes Eppes Goode, born at "Inglewood," May 15, 1781, died December 25, 1814, daughter of Thomas Goode, of Chesterfield county, Virginia.  Through this marriage Dr. Edward C. Laird, of Boydton, Virginia, traces a line of descent from John Goode, an Englishman, who came to Virginia prior to 1660 from Barbadoes [sic].
Thomas Goode was a wealthy planter, owning estate in Mecklenburg and Chesterfield counties, Virginia.  He married Agnes Osborne, of "Osbornes," Chesterfield.  His youngest daughter, Agnes Eppes, born May 15, 1781, married Colonel John Tucker, also of an illustrious Virginia family.
Thomas Goode was a son of John Goode, of "Falls Plantation," Chesterfield county, Virginia, who was killed by the Indians between the years 1720 and 1730.  He left three sons and a daughter, who moved with their widowed mother to the southwestern boundary of the colony, bought land and settled along the Roanoke river.  John Goode was the third son of John Goode, the founder of the Virginia family of Goode, and of the eleventh generation of English Goodes, descendants of Richard Goode.  John Goode married (first) in Barbadoes [sic], a lady named Mackarness, who came to Virginia with him but soon died, leaving a son Samuel.  John Goode married (second) Anna Bennett, who bore him twelve children.
Dr. Edward Chambers Laird is a son of Dr. Alexander Thomson Laird, who was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, near Lexington, April 20, 1819.  He was educated at the United States Military Academy at West Point, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, and Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, an eminent physician, son of John and Jane (Edmondson) Laird, of Rockbridge county.  Dr. Alexander Thomson Laird married Virginia Chambers, born in Mecklenburg county, Virginia, May 4, 1832, who yet survives him.   She is a daughter of Judge Edward R. Chambers, of previous mention, who married Lucy, daughter of Colonel John and Agnes Eppes (Goode) Tucker.  Judge Chambers has issue: Edward St. John, "Harvie," Captain Henry Harvie, a lawyer and Confederate soldier, Company C, Virginia Reserves; Sterlin, died young; Henrietta, died young; Elizabeth, died young; Virginia, of previous mention; Jennie, married Dr. Harvey Laird; Mollie, still living in the old home at Boydton; Juliet, married L. M. Wilson; Rosa, married Thomas F. Goode.
Dr. Edward Chambers Laird was born at Boydton, Virginia, October 9, 1854.  After preparatory courses, he entered Virginia Military Institute, in August, 1872, as a cadet from Mecklenburg county, continuing three years until graduation, class of 1875.  Deciding upon the profession honored by his father, he prepared at the University College of Medicine, Baltimore, receiving his degree M. D., class of 1879.  He began professional practice the same year at Boydton, but has not been in continuous practice there.  He was for a period physician at the celebrated Buffalo Lithia Springs of Virginia.  Later he located at Asheville, North Carolina, where he established a large and select practice.  He then removed to Haw River, North Carolina, where he has large business interests.  He has a large practice in Boydton, the home of his mother, and is practically a resident of both Boydton and Haw River.  Mrs. Laird, mother of Dr. Laird, resides at the fine old homestead in Boydton, a highly respected and beloved lady.  Dr. Laird divides his time between his professional and business interests in Haw River and Boydton.  He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and in politics is a Democrat.
He married, June 9, 1880, Cora May, daughter of Governor Thomas May Holt, of North Carolina.  Children: 1. Thomas Holt, born at Haw River, North Carolina, August 5, 1881; educated at Danville Military Institute and Trinity College, Durham, North Carolina; now engaged as a cotton broker at Greensboro, North Carolina; married Margaret Keene Goode, daughter of Edward Chambers Goode, and has a daughter Louisa Holt Laird, born in Greensboro, August 18, 1913.  2. Charles Chambers, born at Haw River, North Carolina, August 31, 1890; was educated at Bingham School, Asheville, North Carolina, and Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia; was associated with his older brother in cotton brokerage business in Greensboro; died at Sao Paulo, Brazil, November 15, 1914.
David Frank Laird, a brother of Dr. Alexander T. Laird, was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, July 8, 1822, died December 17, 1891; was a farmer.
(Encyclopedia of Virginia Biographies, Vol. IV.  Publ. 1915. Transcribed by Chris Davis)

LAIRD, JAMES SR.
James Laird, Sr., was living in 1756 with John Craig in what is now Rockingham County. The house he built in 1760 on his purchase at the foot of Laird's Knob and at the head of Smith Creek is still an occupied dwelling and is in a good state of preservation. The pioneer died here in 1803. His children were James, David, and Mary. The first of these served in the French and Indian War and both were in the Revolution. In 1805, James, Jr., was living in Rockbridge near Fancy Hill. Mary a sister to James, Sr., married James Craig, Sr., who was a member of the Augusta court in 1771-78. David E. Laird conducted at Fancy Hill one of the best preparatory schools in Virginia. In central Kentucky is an emigrant branch of the Rockbridge Lairds, and it includes people of wealth and position.
(Source: The History of Rockbridge County, Virginia, By Olen Morton, Publ. 1920. Transcribed by Andrea Stawski Pack)

LEE, GEORGE WASHINGTON CUSTIS
George Washington Custis Lee was the oldest son of General Robert E. Lee. In 1854 he came out of West Point at the head of his class, and was in the engineering corps until the outbreak of the war of 1861. As a captain of engineers he was then employed on the forts around Richmond. In the summer of 1861 Jefferson Davis made him an aide-de-camp with the rank of colonel of cavalry. Near the close of the war he had risen to the rank of major-general. He saw little active service, although this was not according to his desire. In the fall of 1865 he came to Lexington as professor of civil engineering and applied mechanics. February 1, 1872, he succeeded his father as college president, and was the first to preside over Washington and Lee University under its present name. In 1897 he retired. As president emeritus he was offered $2,000 a year and the use of the house he was occupying. This was declined and he went to live at Ravenwood, a family estate in Fairfax County. There he died in 1913 at the age of eighty. General Lee was unmarried.
Susan P. Pendleton, sister of General A. S. Pendleton, married in this county Edwin G. Lee, a native of Jefferson County, West Virginia. In conjunction with her father and sisters, she carried on a classical school in Lexington. Mrs. Lee, who wrote "A School History of the United States" and "Memoirs of William N. Pendleton," died in Lexington in 1911, aged seventy-nine.
(Source: The History of Rockbridge County, Virginia, By Olen Morton, Publ. 1920. Transcribed by Andrea Stawski Pack)

LEE, ROBERT E.
Robert E. Lee was born on January 19, 1807, the son of Major General Henry Lee III (175601818), the Governor of Virginia, and Anne Hill Carter (1773-1829). Anne was his father's second wife. His birthplace was Stratford Hall Plantation in Westmoreland County Virginia. His father was a Revolutionary War Hero. His mother was raised on the Shirley Plantation. His father died when he was eleven years old. His family moved to Alexandria, Virginia and grew up in various relatives homes. He attended Alexandria Academy.  He entered the United States Military Academy in 1825. He graduated in 1829.
He married Mary Anna Randolph Curtis (1808-1873) who was the great grandaughter of Daniel Parke Custis and Martha Washington (2nd husband was George Washington) on June 30 1831 at her parents house, Arlington House. They were the parents of seven children, four girls and three boys. Before the Civil war, he lived at his wife's family home, the Custis-Lee Mansion on the Arlington Plantation. It later became a part of the Arlington National Cemetery after the war.
Robert E Lee was chosen by President Abraham Lincoln to take command of the entire Union Army in 1861, and initially declined because VA was seperating from the Union. After VA seceded from the Union in April of 1861, Lee eventually was to serve as the senior military advisor to President Jefferson Davis. His first command for the Confederate States came in June 1862. The greatest victories for Lee were the Seven Days Battles, the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Cold Harbor, the Second Battle of Bull Run. Lee was defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg but was able to escape to Virginia. He would later surrender at Appomattox Courthouse on April 09 1865. In a proclamation on December 25, 1868, President Andrew Johnson gave an unconditional pardon that included Robert E Lee.
Robert E. Lee suffered a stroke on September 28 1870. He died from pneumonia on October 12 1870 in Lexington Virginia. He is buried beneath Lee Chapel at the Washington and Lee University.
The battles he participated in were:
1861- Cheat Mountain,
1862- Seven Days,
1862- Second Manassas, South Mountain, Antietam,
1863- Chancellorsville, Gettysburg,
1864-Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Deep Bottom,
1865- Appomattox

LETCHER, JOHN
John Letcher came to this county from Fluvanna. He was an uncle to Robert P. Letcher, who was governor of Kentucky in 1840-44. After coming to Rockbridge, John married Mary Houston, an aunt to General Sam Houston, of Texas. Two of his sons remained in their native county, John, Jr., operating a tannery ten miles south of Lexington, and William H., living at the county seat and keeping a boarding house for students. John, a son of William H., was born March 28, 1813, and was educated at Washington College, afterward studying law at Randolph-Macon College. He was highly successful in his chosen profession, and won a renown that sent him to the Constitutional Convention of 1850. From 1851 to 1859 he was a member of the House of Representatives at Washington, where he sat in the Committee on Ways and Means. His Congressional career was conscientious and useful. It was here that he became known as "Honest John Letcher," and as the "Watch-Dog of the United States Treasury." In 1859, Mr. Letcher was elected governor of his state by the comfortable majority of 5,569, although he failed to carry the Eastern District. His administration covered the years 1860-63 inclusive, so that he was one of the war governors of the period. After this responsibility and trying experience, Mr. Letcher returned to his native town to resume the practice of law, but after the close of hostilities he was repeatedly sent to the General Assembly. Politically, Governor Letcher was a Democrat and for some time he was editor of the Valley Star. During the months of suspense prior to the firing on Fort Sumter, he was not one of the original secessionists and his views were conciliatory. Even after the wanton burning of his fine residence by order of General Hunter, and while the memory of it must still have been fresh, he could use these words in an address at the Virginia Military Institute, September 19, 1866: "The war has ended. We are again a united people. Let the passions, the prejudices, and the revengeful feelings, which have existed between the sections, and which were intensified by the civil war, be consigned in solemn silence to a common grave, there to sleep forever. The past is gone and should be forgotten. The present is upon us, and should be wisely improved with a view to the future and all it has in store for us." The governor's death took place January 26, 1884, closing a long period of invalidism. The wife of Mr. Letcher was Mary S. Holt, of Augusta County. The children born to the couple were William H., Elizabeth S., Ann H., Andrew H., John D., Mary K., Virginia L., Fannie P., and Greenlee D.
(Source: The History of Rockbridge County, Virginia, By Olen Morton, Publ. 1920. Transcribed by Andrea Stawski Pack)

LEYBURN, JOHN
John Leyburn graduated from the College of New Jersey with two honors and prepared for the ministry at Union Theological Seminary. His first pastorate was at Gainesville, Ala. For nine years he was co-editor of The Presbyterian, at Philadelphia. He was also secretary of the Publication Society of the Presbyterian Church. The Secession war found him traveling in Europe and called him home. Just after the close of the war he was serving a church in Baltimore. In 1874 he again went abroad, having already visited the British Isles as a delegate to the Ter-Centenary Celebration of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. His wife was Mary L. Mercer, a granddaughter of General Hugh Mercer of the Revolution. There were no children. Doctor Leyburn was born in Lexington and in the evening of his life he wrote some very entertaining reminiscences for the Rockbridge papers. He died in 1893 at the age of seventy-eight.
(Source: The History of Rockbridge County, Virginia, By Olen Morton, Publ. 1920. Transcribed by Andrea Stawski Pack)

LINDSEY, WILLIAM
Lindsey, William, b. in Rockbridge county, Va., 4 Sept., 1835. He received an education in the schools of his native place, and in 1854 removed to Hickman county, Ky., where he taught, studied law, and was admitted to practice in 1858. At the opening of the civil war he entered the Confederate army as lieutenant, and was soon made captain in the 22d Tennessee infantry. he served as staff-officer with Gen. Buford and Gen. Lyon, and remained with the 2d Kentucky brigade until paroled as a prisoner of war early in 1865, at Columbus, Miss. At the close of hostilities he returned to Clinton, Ky., resumed the practice of his profession, and was elected to the state senate in 1867. In 1870 he was chosen to the highest judicial bench in the state, and in September, 1876, he became chief justice of Kentucky, leaving the bench two years afterward with a high reputation. He declined a renomination, and has since followed the profession of law at Frankfort.
(Source: Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. 3. Publ. 1887. Submitted by Linda Rodriguez)

LOCHER, CHARLES H.
Charles H. Locher is a son of Charles H. Locher, Sr., a native of Maryland who came to Balcony Falls about 1852 to manufacture cement. This business he pursued on a large scale until the plant was demolished by a flood in the James. He died at Glasgow in 1889. The son, who is a younger brother to Harry O. Locher of Glasgow, obtained a very practical knowledge of railroad construction, and drifted into contract work in which he has made a nation wide reputation. He is the owner of several patents, inclusive of an aerial dump used in excavation. The principal undertakings which Mr. Locher has carried to completion are these: the Chicago Drainage Canal the; Wachusett Dam in Massachusetts; the Shoshone Dam in Wyoming; the Livingstone Ship Channel in Detroit River; and the I. and O. Viaduct at Richmond, Virginia. Without his knowledge or solicitation, Mr. Locher was selected as manager to place a system of dams in the basin of the Miami River of Ohio. By an expenditure of $25,000,000, it is hoped to so impound the flood waters of that valley that such a disaster as befell the city of Dayton in 1913 is not at all likely to recur. Mr. Locher is ingenious, a good organizer, rather careful in making a promise, but scrupulous in the fulfillment.
(Source: The History of Rockbridge County, Virginia, By Olen Morton, Publ. 1920. Transcribed by Andrea Stawski Pack)

LOCHER, CHARLES HUNTER:
Charles Hunter Locher. Charles Hunter Locher, a prominent contractor of New York City, was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, October 3, 1862. His father was Charles Hess Locher, who was born in Funkston, Maryland, in 1821, died in 1889 Charles Hess Locher was quartermaster in the Confederate army stationed at Lynchburg, Virginia, during the Civil war, and in his home county was a well known contractor and manufacturer of cement. The mother of Charles Hunter Locher was Mary Elizabeth (Orrick) Locher, who was born in Hancock, Maryland, in 1831, died in 1884, the daughter of Cromwell Orrick. The family name of Locher is occupational and an allied name is Lockerman, or a man who makes locks. The name is found both in Germany and Britain, and families of the name have been distinguished in Europe. In the General Armory of J. Bernard Burke, the arms of one family of the name are thus heraldically described: Quarterly first and third, or a chevron, between three dragons heads erased gules; second and third argent a fesse three lozenges azure. Crest: A buck's head erased proper.
Mr. Charles Hunter Locher was educated as a boy in the public and private schools of his native town and after leaving school worked with concerns in connection with railroads, and in this way obtained a very practical knowledge of railway construction. From that he drifted naturally into contract work. He has constructed in many parts of the country, in connection with others, large and important dams, canals, and similar work, notable among which are: Chicago Drainage Canal; Hydro Electric Plant, 1400 H. P., Richmond, Virginia; I. & O. Viaduct, Richmond, Virginia; Wachusett Dam, Clinton, Massachusetts, for water supply for city of Boston; excavation West Neebish Channel, Sault St. Marie, and Livingston Channel, Detroit, Michigan, for United States government; Shoshome Dam, Cody, Wyoming, at the time of construction the highest in the world; four and one-half mile aqueduct within the limits of the city of New York; several sections of New York state barge canal, the cost of these aggregating over twenty million dollars, in which he has not only had a business interest, but a large share in the constructive work of achievement, involving labor adequate to the completion of large and difficult engineering and other undertakings. He is the inventor of the "aerial dump" used in large excavating and conveying works, and is the owner of several United States patents, including rock drills. Mr. Locher is a member of various fraternities and societies, among them, "The Southern Society of New York City," "The Virginians of New York City," and "The Technical Club of Chicago, Illinois." In politics he is a Democrat, and takes an independent and personal stand in matters of religion.
Mr. Locher is one of six children, most of whom reached maturity. His brothers and sisters were: Harry Orrick, born at Alpine, Maryland, 1850, married Lulu E. Jett, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, their children being Harry Orrick, Jr., Eben, Bailey, Edith, Louise, and Lawrence; Eben, born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, in 1853, married Maggie Garber, their children being Charles H., Mary, George, John and Baldwin; George, born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, March 27, 1865, married Mary Poindexter, of Rockbridge county, sister of Senator Poindexter, their child being Francis Lightfoot; Lawrence, born in Rockbridge county, 1867, died at the age of sixteen years; Lucy A. (twin to Lawrence Locher), born in Rockbridge county, 1867; Henry S., born in Rockbridge county.
Mr. Locher married, October 3, 1909, Matilda McClure, daughter of John and Rose (Angle) Bowles, born at Hancock, Maryland, in 1865. There have been no children of this marriage. The Locher family of Virginia has been allied in different generations with many well known families of the south, and has itself in the persons of some of its members played a worthy part in the communities to which its ramifications have run. The family has not been a numerous one, but it has made up in quality what it lacks in quantity, and considering the limited prevalence of the name its members have no right to be ashamed of its record in the political, commercial and professional fields of activity.
Source:  Encyclopedia of Virginia biography; edited by Lyon Gardiner Tyler; Publi. 1915;  Submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack

Judge Daniel B. Lucas, LL.D.
Judge Lucas was one of the most distinguished lawyers, jurists and literateures that this State has produced. He was born in Charlestown, Jefferson County, Virginia, March 16, 1836, and was known as "the poet of the Shenandoah Valley." He came of distinguished ancestry, who for generations have been prominent in the wars and the public affairs of Virginia, even prior to the Revolution. He possessed a poetic temperament, and was an orator of power and force. He was a graduate of the University of Virginia, and was the valedictorian of his class. After his graduation he entered the law school of Judge Brockenbrough at Lexington, Virginia, and graduated therefrom in the class of 1859. Early in 1860 he removed to Richmond, and at the opening of the Civil War cast his fortunes with the South, and became a member of the staff of General Henry A. Wise. He had many experiences and narrow escapes, but emerged from the conflict unscathed and unharmed. During that period he wrote several poems that rendered him famous, one of which was'' The land where we were Dreaming," also "The Wealth of Eglantine," "The Maid of Northumberland." A volume of poems, "Ballads and Madrigals," etc.
He returned to his home in Charlestown, and in 1870 formed a partnership with Thomas C. Green, who subsequently became one of the ablest lawyers and most distinguished jurists of the Commonwealth, and by his ability, training and skill young Lucas took high rank in the profession. He had a large practice in the State and Federal Courts, and especially in the Supreme Court of the State, many of his cases being of great importance, which he managed with signal success. While devoting himself assiduously to his profession and many spare hours to poetic compositions, he yet found time to deliver numerous platform lectures on literary subjects. Among his most notable lectures were those on Daniel O'Connel, John Brown, John Randolph and Henry Clay.
He always took a high position on, and maintained a strong adherence to, the Democracy of the fathers of that party, against the alleged departure from the faith and doctrines of Jefferson, Madison and Monroe, and was instrumental in the defeat of the Hon. Johnson N. Camden, the Democratic nominee, for a seat in the United States Senate in 1887, because of that alleged departure. The Legislature failed to elect a Senator, and after its adjournment Governor Wilson appointed Mr. Lucas to that position during the interim. But a special session of the Legislature was held the following April and Judge C. J. Faulkner was elected to the existing vacancy, and thus that controversy was ended.
Mr. Lucas was a Regent of the West Virginia University for eight years and showed an active interest in the educational affairs of the State; and in July, 1876, he was tendered the Deanship of its Law Department, an honor which his large law practice compelled him to decline. For the same reason he declined to accept the position of a Circuit Court Judge which was tendered to him to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Judge John Blair Hoge. He was elected a member of the West Virginia Legislature in 1884, and was re-elected in 1886. His opposition to sumptuary laws and the coeducation of the sexes in the State University were very marked. He also vigorously favored a system of high license and equalization of taxation of all property, whether real or personal, corporate or individual, maintaining that inequality of taxation had been the bane of all Republics. Taking him all in all he proved to be a legislator of great influence and ability.
On the death of Judge Thomas C. Green, a member of the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State, his former law partner, Mr. Lucas was, in 1889, appointed to fill that vacancy, and in 1890 he was elected to fill Judge Green's unexpired term, which he ably did until January 1, 1893. His opinions are marked by careful thought and a full knowledge of, the law, and are expressed in correct language and with the grace that bears the touch and taste of an accomplished scholar. Rarely is there found in the ranks of men one so symmetrical in mind and character, one so sound in judgment, so unerring in moral perception, and so faithful to duty as the subject of this brief memoir. He was by no means a robust man, and yet he was capable of almost unlimited labor and application. He was married in 1869 to Miss Lena Brooks, of Richmond, Virginia. They had an only child — a daughter. He departed this life aged above three score and ten.
In 1844 the West Virginia University conferred upon Judge Lucas the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, which was, in every respect, a well merited compliment and fully deserved.
[Bench and Bar of West Virginia by George Wesley Atkinson, 1919 - Transcribed by AFOFG]

LUSK, WILLIAM
William Lusk, a justice of this county, was a self-made man, and incidentally was an ingenious mechanic.
(Source: The History of Rockbridge County, Virginia, By Olen Morton, Publ. 1920. Transcribed by Andrea Stawski Pack)