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FRANK S. BLAIR.

HON. FRANK SIMPSON BLAIR, a distinguished member of the Virginia Bar and of this Association, died at his home, at Wytheville, on the morning of January 14, 1899.

Although he had nearly reached threescore years, yet up to a short time before his death he was in the prime of mental and physical vigor, and his friends expected many years of continued active service to round out and ripen a career already highly distinguished in his profession.

Captain Blair was born in Jonesboro, Tennessee, November 6, 1839, and was of distinguished lineage. He was the youngest son of Hon. John Blair, an eminent lawyer and orator of Tennessee, who represented his district in Congress for fourteen consecutive years.

Young Blair received a good education, first the old-field school, then at Emory and Henry College, in Virginia, and finally at the University of Tennessee, where he graduated in 1860. On leaving the University he found his State, and especially his section of the State (East Tennessee) in a turmoil of political and social agitation growing out of the issues which terminated in our great Civil War. In no section of the South did passion engender as bitter feeling; party lines were obliterated, neighborhoods, churches, and even families were divided and arrayed in hostile camps. The Blair family was intensely southern in sentiment, and at the first call for arms in 1861, young collegian raised a company, of which he was elected captain, and went to the front with the Nineteenth Regiment of Tennessee Confederate Volunteers. He was a gallant soldier and officer, and was soon promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the Sixtieth Tennessee. He was captured at Vicksburg, and sent to prison at Johnson's Island, where he commenced the study of law. After the war he determined to cast his fortune with Virginia, and located at Wytheville, where he was soon ad

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mitted to the Bar, and continued to practice his profession until his death. As a lawyer, he was successful from the beginning; he was soon elected Commonwealth's Attorney for his adopted county, and was continued in this office until he declined reelection on account of his increasing practice. He united with General William Mahone in the great Readjuster movement in Virginia, and was nominated for Attorney-General on the State ticket, headed by Colonel William E. Cameron. He made a brilliant canvass and proved himself one of the most effective political debaters in the State. He was complimented by receiving the largest majority given any member of his ticket.

As Attorney-General, he was called upon to defend the legislation enacted for the settlement of Virginia's public debt under the Riddleberger bill, and performed his duties with great ability, measuring up to every requirement of his responsible position. On retiring from the office, Captain Blair resumed general practice, and his ability soon won for him a host of clients and a lucrative business. He was retained by several of the large corporations operating in Southwestern Virginia, and devoted the later years of his life more especially to practice in the Federal courts, where he was unusually successful. He, perhaps, appeared oftener in the Supreme Court of the United States than any lawyer from his section. He was a most persuasive advocate before a jury, and his services were much sought in important criminal trials, where his ability and resources were displayed to their fullest extent. Among his greatest triumphs in this line was the trial of Dr. Baker, at Abingdon, for poisoning his wife, and in the management of the Wadley case, which he carried through all the courts, State and Federal. His cases always showed careful preparation, and he spared no labor in maturing them. A client never had a more earnest advocate.

The estimate in which he was held by his home Bar, one of the ablest in Virginia, may be shown from an admirable address delivered by E. Lee Trinkle, Esq., at a meeting of the Wytheville Bar on the occasion of Captain Blair's death, in which he

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said, "When we remember, as expressed by the late Judge Burks, that knowledge of the law is not by intuition, is not a gift, not a birthright, not an appurtenance of wealth or station, however lofty; but that it is acquired only by labor, diligence and patient perseverance,' we can only the more admire the character of this sketch, for of him we can truthfully say that 'labor, diligence and patient perseverance' were among the leading features of his legal career. A cause placed under his control was concomitant with a resolve on his part to leave no authority unexamined, no stone unturned, no question unasked, which would tend to return a verdict or decree favorable to his claim, so far as was consistent with the true merits presented for its substantiation. Towards his adversaries, whether they be lawyers, laymen, litigant or witness, he was universally respectful and courteous. Were one asked to mention the most apparent characteristic of his success, the answer would doubtless be, his industry, capacity for work, his astute discriminative powers and vision of technical variances between this and that view, as well as clear, logical and forcible presentation of his ideas before judge or jury."

Among the honorary positions held by Captain Blair was that of visitor of the University of Virginia, in which institution he always manifested great interest. He was an enthusiastic and prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, and in later life joined the Presbyterian Church, and lived a consistent disciple of its teachings. He was charitable almost to a fault, dispensing it through other hands, chiefly through the ministers of his town, with the injunction that his name should not be divulged. In the social circle he was a charming companion and host, and in his family relations was all that could be expected of a devoted and indulgent husband and father.

B. F. BUCHANAN.

C. W. MURDAUGH.

CLAUDIUS WALKE MURDAUGH died at his home, in Portsmouth, Virginia, after an illness of a few days, on the 12th day of October, 1898, in the seventieth year of his age. His talents as a lawyer commanded the highest regard; his bearing as a judge inspired respect and commendation in the highest degree; his conduct as a soldier in the Confederate army attested him a true patriot, and his civil life made him a high place in the esteem of the community in which he lived. He came of a proud and distinguished ancestry, prominent in the annals of Virginia.

John Murdaugh, his great-great-grandfather, was favored by large grants of land from the King of England and was a wealthy farmer in the early colonial days.

Josiah Murdaugh, his great-grandfather, born in 1744, was a captain in the Revolutionary army.

Joseph Murdaugh, his grandfather, was born in 1770 in Nansemond county. He was a distinguished lawyer, and for a long time member of the County Court. He died in 1818.

James Murdaugh, his father, was born in the same county in 1799, and died in 1871. He was an able and distinguished lawyer, having located in Portsmouth in 1832.

Claudius W. Murdaugh, his son, was born December 28, 1828; educated at William and Mary College and the University of Virginia; began the practice of his profession on the 20th day of May, in the year 1850, in Portsmouth, where he continued in the practice of the law, except during the intervals of the Confederate war and his judicial term, to the day of his death, October 12, 1898. He was a member of the House of Delegates in 1855-'56, and he was also elected to the House of Delegates by the soldiers during the Confederate war period.

His military record in the war for the independence of the Confederate States is that of a hero and a patriot. He entered

the Confederate service on the 19th day of April, 1861, as commissary of the Third Regiment of Virginia Infantry, at that time commanded by Colonel James G. Hodges. He continued as commissary of the Third Regiment until Colonel Roger A. Pryor was assigned to its command, when he resigned his commission. He then assisted in raising a company called the Bilisoly Blues, of which he was elected and commissioned as second lieutenant on the 16th day of June, 1861. This company was assigned to the Forty-first Virginia Infantry (Colonel John R. Chambliss), and designated as Company G, and was stationed at Sewell's Point until detached from this regiment on the 29th day of April, 1862, when it was ordered to report to Lieutenant-Colonel Archer, at Fort Boykin, near Smithfield, Va. It performed guard duty along the Norfolk and Petersburg railroad until May 27, 1862, when, as a detached company, it was ordered to report to the major commanding Battery No. 3, near Richmond, Virginia, and was there held in reserve during the battle of Seven Pines and the battles immediately following. On the 20th day of July, 1862, this company was assigned to the Sixty-first Regiment of Virginia Infantry, then under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel William Fred. Niemeyer, and designated as Company I. In November, 1862, the Sixty-first Virginia Regiment was assigned to, and with the Sixth, Twelfth, Sixteenth, and Forty-first Virginia Infantry regiments, composed Mahone's Brigade.

Lieutenant C. W. Murdaugh was with his company through all these changes, and was active in the following engagements and battles: Catlett's Station, on the Orange and Alexandria railroad, on the 27th of September, 1862; Fredericksburg, December 11, 12, and 13, 1862; Zoar Church, near Chancellorsville, April 30, 1863; McCarthy's Farm, May 1, 1863; Chancellorsville, May 2 and 3, 1863; Salem Church, near Fredericksburg, on the afternoon of May 3, 1863. At this battle of Salem Church the regiment was advanced as skirmishers for Mahone's Brigade to meet the enemy coming from Fredericksburg. Lieu

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