Henry Scarsbrook Langhorne Explained
Henry Scarsbrook "Harry" Langhorne (November 3, 1790 – December 16, 1854) was an American landowner and farmer.
Early life
Langhorne was born November 3, 1790, at "Gambell", the family ancestral home in Warwick County, Virginia. Henry was the youngest of five children of John Scarsbrook Langhorne and Elizabeth Langhorne, first cousins who had married in 1782, which was customary at the time to retain family wealth. Gambell had been built in 1675 by the original Langhorne family immigrant, John Langhorne. who emigrated from Bristol, England.[1] The colonial homestead strategically situated between the Mariners' Lake and the James River was destroyed by fire in 1818, and the land is now home to the Mariners' Museum in Newport News.[2]
Career
Although he was first seated on some of the Cumberland County, Virginia, lands that he had inherited through his mother, he quickly resolved to move to Lynchburg with his brother Maurice. An active and keen agriculturist, the planting of tobacco was no longer as profitable as it had once been, and after an early venture at the Farm Mills in Amherst was ruined by flood in 1826, brothers Henry and Maurice erected Lynchburg Milling Co. flour mill, also known as Langhorne Mills, which was built in 1831.[3] He never abandoned planting though, and continued to buy numerous plantations in Bedford, Campbell and Amherst Counties. Also in 1826, Henry appraised the Poplar Forest estate of Thomas Jefferson.[4]
In 1845, he retired and relocated to "Cloverdale", the 3,500-acre Botetourt County plantation he had just purchased from his niece's husband George Plater Tayloe of Buena Vista. He continued to purchase smaller tracts and at the time of his death, he owned a total of 3,892 acres.[5] Langhorne's Mill would be used by the Red Cross as a makeshift hospital to treat injured confederate soldiers during the American Civil War.
Personal life
Langhorne was married twice and between his two wives, he was the father of thirteen children. His first marriage, in 1816, was to Frances Callaway Steptoe (1798–1832), the highly sought after daughter of Hon. James Steptoe (a close friend of Thomas Jefferson) and Frances Callaway of "Federal Hill". Beginning in 1828, Henry lived at Point of Honor, an historic mansion overlooking Blackwater Creek in Lynchburg. Together, Henry and Frances were the parents of the following children:
- John Scarsbrook Langhorne (1817–1886), who married Sarah Elizabeth Dabney of "Edgemont", a great-granddaughter of William Randolph II of "Chatesworth".
- William Maurice Langhorne (1818-1900), never married
- Elizabeth Johnston Langhorne (1821-1888), who married James Callaway Hunt (1811-1870) [2]
- James Steptoe Langhorne (1822–1905), who married Elizabeth Rachel Omohundro (1825–1915).[2]
- Henry Scarsbrooke Langhorne (ca.1825-1853, who died unmarried.[2]
- Sarah Massie (Sallie) Langhorne (1826-1881, never married
- Thomas Nelson Langhorne (1828–1889), who married Orra Henderson Moore Gray (1841–1904),[2] a writer.[6] [7]
- Frances (Fanny) Steptoe Langhorne (1829-1889), who died unmarried.[2]
After the death of his first wife in 1832, Langhorne remarried in 1833 to Anne Eliza Scott (1800–1870), the daughter of Charles Scott of Buckingham County, Virginia.[2] Together, they were the parents of:[8]
- Charles Scott Langhorne (1836–1896), who married Katherine Page Waller (1840–1920).[9]
- Edward Alexander Langhorne (1837–1861), who died of typhoid during the U.S. Civil War.[10]
- George Washington Langhorne (1839–1905), who married Nannie (née Armistead) Langhorne.[11]
- Anne Scott Langhorne (1840–1920), who married Maurice Scarsbrooke Langhorne (1823–1908).[12]
- Mary Catherine Langhorne (1845–1924), who did not marry and became a "schoolmistress."[13]
Henry Langhorne died on December 16, 1854, in Fincastle in Botetourt County, Virginia, and was buried at the Callaway-Steptoe Cemetery, New London in Bedford County, Virginia. His eldest son John inherited Langhorne Mills, along with the bulk of his father's estate. His son James was given the 13,000-acre "Langdale" plantation located near the border of North Carolina.
Notes and References
- Book: Langhorne. James Callaway. The Virginia Langhornes. 2013. Blackwell Press. Lynchburg, Virginia. 978-1-938205-10-1.
- Book: Hardy . Stella Pickett . Colonial Families of the Southern States of America: A History and Genealogy of Colonial Families who Settled in the Colonies Prior to the Revolution . 1965 . Genealogical Publishing Com . 9780806306209 . 317 . 10 April 2019 . en.
- Book: Langhorne. James Callaway. The Virginia Langhornes. 2013. Blackwell Press. Lynchburg, Virginia. 978-1-938205-10-1.
- Book: Chambers, Jr.. S. Allen. Poplar Forest and Thomas Jefferson. 1993. Fort Church Publishers, Inc.. Little Compton, RI. 978-0966716900.
- Book: Langhorne. James Callaway. The Virginia Langhornes. 2013. Blackwell Press. Lynchburg, Virginia. 978-1-938205-10-1.
- Book: Addis . Patricia K. . Through a Woman's I: An Annotated Bibliography of American Women's Autobiographical Writings, 1946-1976 . 1983 . Scarecrow Press . 9780810815889 . 287 . 10 April 2019 . en.
- Book: Research . University of California (System) Institute of Library . University of California Union Catalog of Monographs Cataloged by the Nine Campuses from 1963 Through 1967: Authors & titles . 1972 . Institute of Library Research, University of California, Berkeley . 9780913248003 . 10 April 2019 . en.
- Book: Davids . Richard Wistar . The Wistar Family: A Genealogy of the Descendants of Caspar Wistar, Emigrant in 1717 . 1896 . Philadelphia . 10 April 2019 . en.
- Book: Goolrick . John Tackett . The Life of General Hugh Mercer: With Brief Sketches of General George Washington, John Paul Jones, General George Weedon, James Monroe and Mrs. Mary Ball Washington, who Were Friends and Associates of General Mercer at Fredericksburg : Also a Sketch of Lodge No. 4, A.F. and A.M., of which Generals Washington and Mercer Were Members : and a Genealogical Table of the Mercer Family . 1906 . Neale Publishing Company . 132 . 10 April 2019 . en.
- Book: Morrow . Daniel S. . Murder in Lexington: VMI, Honor and Justice in Antebellum Virginia . 2013 . Arcadia Publishing . 9781625840011 . 46 . 10 April 2019 . en.
- Book: Garber . Virginia Armistead . The Armistead Family: 1635-1910 . 1910 . Whittet & Shepperson, printers . 98 . 10 April 2019 . en.
- Book: Yancey . Rosa Faulkner . Lynchburg and Neighbors . 1935 . J. W. Fergusson & Sons . 356 . 10 April 2019 . en.
- Notice . The London Gazette . April 16, 1897 . 2170 . 10 April 2019 . Tho. Newcomb over against Baynards Castle in Thamse-street . en.
