trial of a cause, but was always thoroughly prepared to discuss and sustain by authorities any question which arose during the trial, thus showing the most painstaking and accurate preparation of his case. He was an unusually handsome man, and his fine voice and appearance, combined with his great legal ability, made him a dangerous opponent to any member of any Bar. In the course of his practice he was opposed in many important cases by some of the ablest attorneys in this and other States, and it was always conceded that either before the court or jury he was a foeman worthy of their steel. He was never known to take an unfair advantage of an opposing attorney, and no member of the Bar observed more strictly the code of legal ethics or practiced law on a higher plan. Mr. Mushbach took a most active interest in public affairs from the time he attained his majority, and early in the seventies he was elected a member of the City Council of Alexandria, in which position he served his ward most acceptably for many years. In 1877 he was elected a member of the House of Delegates of this State, where he served the city and county of Alexandria for several terms. He was afterwards chosen to represent the city and county of Alexandria, the county of Fairfax and the county of Prince William, in the State Senate. As a legislator he became widely and favorably known, and both in the House and Senate he was recognized as a leader; as a parliamentarian and as a debater he had few equals, and he took a prominent part in the leading debates in both branches of the State Legislature while serving his constituents therein. But it was probably as a political speaker that Mr. Mushbach's great abilities as an orator and a debater became most generally known, and this, too, when he was but twenty-nine years of age. In the campaign between the Readjusters and the Conservatives, he was regarded as one of the ablest of the many able speakers for the latter, and in joint debates with such well known and able stump speakers as ex-Governor Cameron, the late Judge Paul and the late John E. Massey, Mr. Mushbach, according to the verdict of impartial judges, fully held his own. He was, too, a man of great executive ability, which he displayed in making the Alexandria Light Infantry, of which he was captain for ten years or more, one of the best drilled and most efficient military organizations in the South. Under his command this company received many prizes in competitive drills, having been awarded first prize in the State drills at Lynchburg on August 7, 1884; second prize at Richmond on October 24th of the same year; first prize at Lynchburg on October 15, 1885; first prize at Richmond on October 20, 1886, and second prize at Richmond the following year; in 1887 they also received a prize at the International Drilling Contest, at Philadelphia. At the time that Mr. Mushbach was elected captain of this company, in the latter part of 1882, or early in 1883, he knew absolutely nothing of military affairs, never having attended a military school and never having been a member of a military organization. The above mentioned successes of his company are good illustrations of the indomitable energy of the man, as well as of his studious nature, tactics having been mastered by him at odd moments during busy days, and, we are informed by one of his former lieutenants, that a company of blocks, which he always kept in his office desk, were used by him in working out the most difficult maneuvers. In December, 1886, Captain Mushbach married Miss Eva B. Gwynn, the handsome and accomplished daughter of the late Bennett F. Gwynn, of Baltimore, and his devotion to his wife from the date of their marriage to the day of his death served well to illustrate that "the bravest are the tenderest, the loving are the daring." Although not a member of any religious denomination, he was never a scoffer at the beliefs or opinions of others, and he despised insincerity and hypocrisy above all things. He was beloved by high and low, by rich and poor alike, and although it is true that few men are so gifted as was Captain Mushbach, yet it is also true that few men have employed their splendid talents with greater regard for the welfare of the communities in which they lived and for the advancement of the best interests of the State they called their own, and few lawyers have been greater ornaments, in the highest and noblest meaning of that word, to the Bar of the State of Virginia than was George A. Mushbach, of Alexandria. GARDNER L. BOOTHE. *LEONARD MARBURY. At a Corporation Court of the city of Alexandria, continued and held at the courthouse of said city on Thursday, June 26, 1902. Present, Hon. J. K. M. Norton, Judge. The resolutions recently passed by the Bar Association of Alexandria, in respect to the memory of the late Leonard Marbury, were presented and read by K. Kemper, Esq., and the court ordered the same spread upon the minutes. The resolutions are as follows: The members of the Bar of the city of Alexandria have received with deep and unaffected sorrow the announcement of the death of Leonard Marbury, our distinguished fellow citizen, and for many years our beloved associate, who died in the meridian of his career on the morning of June 14th. He had suffered for many months from a painful and protracted illness, which he bore with Christian fortitude and resignation, and although his death was not unexpected, it has come to his surviving associates as a great personal bereavement, and we feel that our loss is irreparable. Leonard Marbury was born in this city in the year 1856 and resided here all of his life. His education was begun at St. John's Academy, in this city, and, after completing his studies at that institution, he entered the law class of Columbian University, in Washington, D. C., from which university he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He at once begun the practice of his chosen profession here, and by his integrity, his industry and his attention to matters intrusted to him, he soon attained a prominent place at the Bar, and by his uniform courtesy and genial manners became a great favorite with all classes in this community. For more than twenty years he filled, with credit to himself, and with entire satisfaction to the people, the office of Commonwealth's Attorney. * Taken from the Minutes of the Corporation Court of the city of Alexandria. |