VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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through his v£.liant conduct as an officer of Company H, Tenth Regiment Virginia Vol- unteer Infantry, with which company he fought in the war between the states until disabled in battle. Mr. Myers was not the only one to carry the family name to credit and honor in that conflict, his brother, Eras- mus P., nobly bearing his part in the other branch of the Confederate service, the cav- alry, being a soldier of the Twelfth \"irginia Cavalry. Erasmus P. Myers received severe wounds in the battle at Brandy Station, and after his recovery returned to the front, serv- ing until the surrender at Appomattox Court House. Thus is there found in the records of the war between the states a story of patriotic devotion and staunch courage which centers in the two sons of Christian Richard Myers.

Christian Richard Myers was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, in 1810, died in 1872. He was a farmer in calling. He married Melinda, daughter of John and Joanna (Saunders) Gaines, who survived him five years, a descendant of Senator Pendleton Gaines, of Virginia, of revolu- tionary fame. Christian Richard and Me- linda (Gaines) Myers were the parents of: L. C, of whom further ; Erasmus P., of pre- vious mention, born in Rockingham county, \'irginia. in 1844, a farmer; Amelia Jane, born in Rockingham county, Virginia, in 1842, married Colonel J. E. Dovel, and has Edgar, Elizabeth and Lucy.

L. C. Myers was educated in the private schools of Rockingham county, Virginia, and when but a youth joined a military com- pany organized a year before the outbreak of war between the states, becoming a lieu- tenant in its organization. When the Con- federate States government issued its call for volunteers, this company enlisted in a body, and became Company H, Tenth Regi- ment Virginia Infantry. The Tenth saw ser- vice in many of the hardest-fought and most important battles of the war, Mr. Myers be- ing seriously wounded in the thigh at the battle of McDowell. May 8. 1862, in which battle Colonel S. B. Gibbons, commanding the regiment, was killed. The wound Mr. Myers sustained in this battle paralyzed him below the hip, but after partially re- covering from its ill effects he was made enrollment office for the Confederate States army and stationed at Rockingham, Vir- ginia, in which capacity he served until the close of the war.

His career as a soldier over, Mr. Myers accepted a position as clerk in a mercantile establishment in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and after passing several years in this capa- city, became, in 1873, a bookkeeper in the employ of the First National Bank of that place." He was subsequently promoted to the position of teller, and after filling this station for about six years, was raised to the office of cashier. He was the incumbent of the cashiership from 1889 until 1908, in the latter year becoming president of the institution with which he had been identi- fied for thirty-five years. Mr. Myers is at this time the head of the First National, and directs its management along conservative business lines, bending his efTorts, as he has in various capacities for so long a time, to maintaining the high standard it has set as an institution firmly founded and wisely managed, a depository worthy of the most absolute confidence, a reliable business med- iu m .

Mr. Myers is a member of S. B. Gibbons Camp, Confederate Veterans, the camp named in honor of the gallant commander of the Tenth Regiment Virginia Infantry, under whom Mr. Myers fought and by whom he fell. Fraternally, he affiliates with tilt Masonic order, belonging to Rocking- h:im Union Lodge. No. 27, Ancient Free and Accepted ]\Iasons, of which he was for two years worshipful master ; Rockingham Chapter, No. 6, Royal Arch Masons, of which he was for two years high priest; Harrisonburg Commandery, No. 10, Knights Templar, of which he was captain general and for many years eminent commander, and Acca Temple. Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Richmond, Vir- ginia. His political party is the Democratic, and he belongs to the Presbyterian church, of which he is an elder.

He married (first) Sally Mauck, who died in 1869; (second) Margaret L. Yancey, who died in 191 1 ; (third) in October, 1913, Anna N. Estes. He is the father of one daughter by his second marriage, Annie M.. born in 1873, married Charles B. Richardson, and re- sides in Richmond, Virginia.

Gwathmey. Descendants in the fourth American generation from Richard Goswell Gwathmey, who founded his line in Virginia, three of the sons of William Watts and Mary (Tayloe) Gwathmey are prominent in

the professional life of the city of Norfolk,