VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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present time. Some of the companies were organized at a much earlier date. The Richmond Grays were organized on June 12. 1844. and under the com- mand of Captain Robert G. Scott volun- teered for service in the war with Mexico, 1846. In 1858 the regiment took part in the ceremonies incident to the removal of the remains of President Monroe from New York and contested honors with the crack Seventh Regiment of New York, which came down as escort on that occasion. Ii 185Q the regiment was ordered out to assist in quelling the disturbance created by John Brown in his raid at Harper's Ferry. After the capture of Brown the regiment was re- called, but two of the campanies, the Rich- mond Grays and Company F were detached to attend the execution of Brown. In April, 1861, when Virginia called upon her sous to rally in her defense, the First Regiment promptly responded to the call. The Rich- mond Grays, Company F and the Richmond Blues, then a part of the First Regiment, being fully equipped, were detached. The Richmond Grays, being the first company ordered out of Richmond, were sent to Nor- folk and assigned to the Twelfth Virginia Regiment. The regiment participated in the following battles : First Manassas, Falls Church, Seven Pines, Second Manassas, Chantilly, Fredericksburg, Five Forks, Gettysburg, Crater, High Bridge, Appomat- tox. After the close of the war in 1865, the regiment was out of commission until De- cember, 1 871, when it was reorganized with John A. Sloan as colonel. Colonel Sloan was succeeded by General Bradley T. John- son, who was succeeded by John B. Purcell, who was succeeded by Charles J. . Ander- son, who was succeeded by M. L. Spotts- wood, who was succeeded by H. C. Jones. After the war with Spain, the regiment was again reorganized in October, 1900, under the command of George Wayne Anderson. Colonel Anderson was succeeded by Wil- liam J. Perry, August 6. 1906.

The old armory of the First Regiment, which occupied the present location, was built in 1881, the city of Richmond appro- priating moneys for the bare foundation, walls and roof, the members of the regiment raising sufficient funds to construct the in- terior. The old armory, because of its pe- culiar architecture, was one of the buildings

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of special interest in the city. The three stone balls which are at the three corners of the lot are of peculiar interest. The Sultan of Turkey thought to use cannon larger than any other nation, which he had made, and these granite balls to be shot from them. A practical demonstration proved that the idea was worthless as the balls would break to pieces after being fired. About 1870 a Turkish trading vessel used these balls as ballast and they were thrown cut on the banks of the river at the wharf in Rockets. The gentleman owning the lot upon which the armory is built brought three of these balls up and erected them on the pedestals where they have remained ever since. In March, 1910, the building was condemned as unsafe for military pur- poses. The common council of 1912 appro- priated $136,000.00 for the erection of a new building to cover the site of the old armory. Work was begun on January i, 191 3, and the new building was completed in March, 1914. The new building is Gothic architec- ture, its very looks portraying it to be a military structure. The bell on the center tower was a present to the Grace Street Presbyterian Church in July. 1881, by Mr. David Sutton, at a cost of $3,000.00. The city purchased this bell from the church in 1906, and put it in the Blues Armory, but because of the tower there being bricked in the bell was useless. It was removed and erected on completion of this building at its present place. It was through the per- sonal eft'orts of Dr. Price that the First Vir- ginia Regiment Armory was rebuilt.

Dr. Price married, at Richmond, October 28, 1913, Louise Critchfield, born in that city, November 16, 1887, daughter of George Critchfield, living a retired life at Thelma, Virginia, his wife being deceased.

Benjamin Watkins Wilson is of the old Huguenot blood, which has contributed so many fine old names to the early history of the United States and of the American colo- nies before their independence. Of that stern type which preferred death or banish- ment to surrendering their personal rights and convictions, the Huguenots made ideal colonists for a new land where the hard- ships of the wilderness must be encountered and peril faced. They combined with their

indomitable courage another quality scarce-