ELIZABETH BANKHEAD MAGRUDER





In
Memory of
ELIZABETH M.
wife of
THOMAS MAGRUDER
and
daughter of the late
James Bankhead
of Port Royal, Virginia
Born November 5, 1778
Died August 19, 1849
Faithful Wife, devoted Mother.
a fervant Christian.
She is not dead, but Sleepeth
Luke 8 Ch. __
Erected by her
sorrowing Children.

CONDITION
3/25/2001 Inventory found this 6 ft tall, 2 1/2 in thick monument in surprisingly good shape for its age with no damage. Interestingly, Elizabeth does not appear in the City Maplewoood burial list (printout available at the Historical Society).
9/26/2001 This stone has been removed. About 9/24/2001, it was shattered when hit by a Parks Maintenance crew attempted to remove a nearby tree.
10/15/2002 This stone has been returned...now patched and cleaned.


Anton, Elizabeth Bankhead Magruder's 2nd cousin 7x removed, is shown visiting the newly repaired grave marker.


BIOGRAPHY


Elizabeth Bankhead Magruder died at Charlottesville, Virginia, August 19, 1849, at the age of 71.

She was born 11/5/1778 at Port Royal, Caroline County, Virginia. She was the daughter of James Bankhead and Christian Miller, both of Port Royal, and sister of James Monroe Bankhead and Janet Bankhead Dunlop (married William Dunlop, a merchant, in 1799).

At the time of her birth, Caroline County was one of the most populous and affluent counties in Virginia and Port Royal, on the Rappahannock, was a primary port for shipping tobacco to Britain. During Elizabeth's life at Port Royal (and until the coming of the railroads in 1853) the riverfront town served as a warehouse center and moved grain, freight, and passengers on 3 masted schooners.

Elizabeth married Thomas Magruder, originally from Prince George's Co.,Maryland who's Scotland born ancestors had been prosperous tobacco planters in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Thomas and Elizabeth married at Port Royal about 1798. Historian Ralph Emmett Fall identifies Thomas as a food merchant, and as Port Royal Postmaster from 1794 - 1804. He identifies their 1817 home as near the thriving riverport along "the highway to the old Ferry and Tannery." Paul D. Casdorph, in his history of Elizabeth's son John Bankhead Magruder, identifies Thomas as a respected lawyer in Caroline County. The personal memoirs dated 1893 of a Caroline County resident states, "The gentleman farmers--the Pendletons, Taylors, Turners, Corbins, Hoomeses, Magruders, and many others--resided on large estates and were noted for their profuse living and lavish hospitality."

Elizabeth, Thomas and children are present in Caroline County censuses for 1810, 1820 and 1830 (1790 and 1800 censuses were burned) and are the only Magruders listed in these censuses. They disappear from Caroline County censuses after 1830. In 1841, their son, Allan B. Magruder appears in Charlottesville records when James W. Goss sells 2 lots of land in Charlottesville to "Allen B. Magruder of the Town of Charlottesville." About this time (exact date unknown at this time), Elizabeth's daughter Janetta marries Robert H. Poore of Fluvanna--a county near Charlottesville. Perhaps Elizabeth arrived in the Charlottesville area at the same time as Allan and Janetta. Research has not revealed if Thomas was alive in 1841 or if he accompanied them to Charlottesville, although a genealogy published on the internet states THOMAS MAGRUDERis buried at Maplewood (the author was contacted but could not remember the source of this information) and Elizabeth's obituary in The Fredericksburg News does not preface its reference to Thomas as "the late." A Mutual Assurance policy issued in Port Royal in 1817 identifies him as Thomas C.

Elizabeth and Thomas had (at least) eight children:

ELIZA: Eliza B. married John Lewis Pendleton of Port Royal 5/26/1820 at Port Royal, Caroline County
GEORGE ALLAN (1799-1871): George married Maria Margaretta Swann of Philadelphia 7/271831 in Philadelphia. She was the daughter of Maj. C. Swan, USA. George died in Paris in 1871.
Virginia Families Vol II pg 597 records this short biography:
     George Allen Magruder [Sr]  "Captain USN, married and later moved to England after
     the War Between the States.  Appointed Midshipman in the United States Navy from
     Port Royal, VA, January 1, 1817.  Commissioned a Captain September 14, 1855.
     Served as Chief of Ordnance and Hydrography until April 23, 1861.  Resigned on
     May 15, 1861, as of April 22, 1861."
Paul D. Casdorph in Prince John Magruder, His Life and Times adds:
     �Although there is no indication that sixty-one-year-old
     Commodore George A. Magruder embraced the Confederacy, he did tender his resignation
     from the navy on April 22, two days after his brother [John] gave up the Washington
     army garrison.  �You are hereby detached from the Bureau of Ordinance and Hydrography,
     �Lincloln�s secretary of the navy, Gideon Welles, informed him one day after his
     resignation.  A second letter, assuring the administration �that under no circumstances
     could I be induced to bear arms against the constitution and Flag I love,� brought a 
     return letter from Welles, dated May 13:  �By direction of the President your name
     has been stricken from the rolls of the navy.�

ISABELLA: Isabella Magruder married George P. Turner 7/31/1833 in Caroline Co.
JULIA or JULIANNA In an 1860 census listing Janetta Magruder Poore, sister of Julia (or Julianna) a Julia A. Magruder age 40 is listed.
WILLIAM No information at this time
JOHN BANKHEAD (1807-1871)

     From History Central on the WWW:

     John was born in Port Royal VA in 5/1/1807.  John received his early education at the
     Rappahannok Academy at Port Royal and attended the very first session of the University
     of Virginia in 1825.He did not finish his studies at the University; instead,
     he entered West Point on 7/1/1826. He graduated in 1830.

      John married the heiress of a sizable Baltimore forture, Henrietta VanKapff of
      Baltimore on 5/18/1831.  She was the daughter of Bernard J. Von Kapff, a native
      of the German duchy of Lippe-Detmold, served as consul at Baltimore, and founded
      �Von Kapff & Anspach, one of the largest wholesale and tobacco importing businesses
      in the city. The marriage produced three children but did not fair well.  Henrietta
      and children spent most of their time living in Europe while John served in assignments
      throughout the U. S.  From 1866 and until John's death in 1871 they did not see each
      other at all.

      John graduated from West Point in 1830, fought in the Seminole and Mexican Wars,
      commanded Fort McHenry in Baltimore and while in command of the Washington garrison
      was responsible for the protection of the newly arrived President Lincoln.  He was
      6 ft 4 inches tall, spoke with a lisp, and his drinking often concerned his superiors.
      Nicknamed "Prince John," he was fond of lavish living, fashionable military dress
      and courtly behavior.

      In 1861, after 35 years of service to the United States Army, John resigned his
      commission and offered his services to the Confederacy.   He led gallently at Big
      Bethel, fell into disfavor at Malvern Hill and redeemed himself at the recapture of
      Galveston in January 1863.

      After the war, he refused to apply for parole, and fled to Mexico when the war ended.
      In Mexico, he fought under Maximilian, then settled in Houston, Texas when 
      Maximilian was defeated.  He died in Houston on February 18, 1871.

ALLAN B. (b. abt 1811/1812)
     Allan was a lawyer and resident of Charlottesville from abt 1838 until abt 1861.
        Allan purchased the Magruder family section at Maplewood and according to newspaper
        obituaries for his wife Sarah and daughter Julia, Allan also is buried in this family
        section.
JANETTA (Born about 1823): Janetta married Robert H. Poore of Fluvanna County, Virginia. Robert, a major in Armistead's Brigade, Pickett's Division, 14th Virginia, was wounded at Gettysburg and died of his wounds 7/3/1863. The 1860 Fluvanna Co. Palmyra district census lists the following children: Eliza B. age 7, Anna T. Age 5, Julia B. Age 3, William Age 3 [twins?], and Virginia M. Age 1. Robert is identified as a Lawyer with $4000 valued real estate and $4450 valued personal property. Also on this listing is Julia A. Magruder Age 40, probably Janetta's sister. Janetta's daughter Julia B. later married Edwin L. Loving. Their son, Julian, and Edwin are buried at Maplewood in this family section.

OTHER NOTABLES IN ELIZABETH'S FAMILY TREE
JAMES MONROE BANKHEAD (b. abt 1789 d. abt 1856)
Elizabeth's brother was an attache of James Monroe when U S envoy in France and England. He served 48 years in the Army. Although not a West Point man, he quickly rose to Captain by 1808, served with distinction during War of 1812, and breveted Brig. Gen. for his gallantry at the siege of Vera Cruz, MX. At the time of his death he was acting as Commander of both the Dept. of Orizaba MX and of the Military Department of the East. James Monroe Bankhead married Anne Pyne of S.C. in 1817. Two sons continued James' military tradition but on opposing sides of the great conflict: Col. Smith P. Bankhead, CSA commanded Fort Alamo at San Antonio and John Pyne Bankhead, USA commanded the USS Monitor.
ELIZABETH ROY MILLER(b. abt 1733, Port Royal) Elizabeth's grandmother (mother of Christian Miller) was a member of the Roy family that ran the tobacco warehouse and ferry station in 1735 that provided the Port's original name--Port Roy
DR. JAMES BANKHEAD (b. abt 1710 d. 1788) Elizabeth's grandfather (father of James Bankhead of Port Royal) was an early physician of Westmoreland County. He came to Virginia from Scotland before 1738.
ELINOR MONROE (b. 1720 Westmoreland County) Elizabeth's grandmother (mother of James Bankhead of Port Royal) was as Aunt of President James Monore.
DR. JOHN BANKHEAD (d. 1794 in Caroline Co.) Elizabeth's uncle (son of Dr. James Bankhead of Westmoreland) is identified by one genealogist as "a great friend of Thomas Jefferson."
CHARLES LEWIS BANKHEAD (b. 1788 Caroline County) Elizabeth's cousin (son of Dr. John Bankhead) married the grandaughter of Thomas Jefferson, Anne Cary Randolph, in 1808. One genealogist writes he "was not a good husband: he drank to excess and mistreated his wife to such an extent that both sets of inlaws tried to think up schemes to rehabilitate him."


The Fredericksburg News August 28, 1849
OBITUARY.
Died, in Charlottesville, on the 19th August, in the full assurance of Faith and in hope of a joyful resurrection, Mrs. Elizabeth M. Magruder, wife of Mr. Thomas Magruder, and daughter of the late James Bankhead, of Port Royal, VA, aged 71 years.

ALBEMARLE COUNTY WILL BOOK 19/238 (Will probated 1 OCT 1849)
It is my wish that all my just debts be paid and then any property
whatever I possess should be equally divided between my single daughters
and if one should marry it should all to the single one, if both married
it should be equally divided between those two and Eliza Pendleton &
Henrietta Turner.
July 17, 1849                                  Elizabeth Magruders
Witness:                                       Last Will & Testament
J. W. Poindexter
St. G. Tucker
George E. Saunders

[Henrietta??? Turner--This will transcribed from a copy and not the original...and
now has me scratching my head]


Some sources:
Historic Port Royal http://www.co.caroline.va.us/portroyal.html
Various published genealogies, especially: The Bankhead Family Genealogy http://www.geocities.con/Heartland/Ranch/5163/bank.html, The Inman Compendium an online genealogy by Jim Williams, and The Leland Family of Virginia, an online genealogy by Richard McLester Leland III
Fall, Ralph Emmett. Hidden Village: Port Royal, Virginia 1744-1981 (1982)
Casdorph, Paul D.. Prince John Magruder His Life and Campaigns (1966)
�George A. Magruder,� typescript, Department of the Navy Library, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D. D., Gideon Welles to G. A. Magruder, 23 April, 13 May 1861, �Resignations and Dismissals of Officers from the United States Navy, 1861,� typescript (unbound on the shelf)., Orders and Resignations, No. 31, Bureau of Ships, Department of the Navy Library, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D. C. (sited by Casdorph)
Pendleton, William Nelson. Memoirs of William Nelson Pendleton D.D., J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1893 pg 22 (sited by Casdorph) Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, New York, 1887-1889 (sited by Virtualology.com) History Central at http://www.multied.com

Special Thanks to Brian M., who relentlessly "reminded" the city of Charlottesville of its obligation to repair Elizabeth's stone AND Jim of Haymarket, VA, who volunteered time for "look ups" in the Fredrickburg Library archives.


RETURN TO LOCATION A8