University of Virginia Library

THE BOSHER FAMILY.

The first Bosher of whom anything is known was Leonard Bosher, a
Baptist minister of London, England, who wrote the first treatise on
"Liberty of Conscience," in 1614. Very little is known of him beyond
what is in his treatise. The first Bosher of whom anything is known

by the present generation was Charles Bosher, who came to this country
from England as a teacher in the old Wormley family, between 1730
and 1740, and settled in King William county, Virginia. He married
a Miss Edwards, from whom descended Charles Bosher, who left six
children, viz.: William, who left no children; Lemuel, left John C.,
Thomas, left children; Frances, married a Mr. Abrams; Mary, married
a Mr. Walker; and Gideon.

Gideon was the pioneer of the stage lines through Virginia and the
Carolinas. His first wife was a Miss Hannah Whitlock, and by her
eight children were born, viz.: (1) John, married a Miss Bridges; was
a builder, and was contractor for the old City Hall, Bosher's Dam (up
on James river), the old Shockoe Warehouse, and other public buildings,
and was also prominent in the city government. His wife was
burned in the old theatre in 1811, the site of the present Monumental
Episcopal church; he left one daughter, who married Ellis Brown. (2)
Frances Ann, married William Wingo. (3) Charles, carriage manufacturer
(1806), left no children. (4) Thomas, one daughter, Eliza D.,
who married George W. Pemberton. (5) Gideon, jr., one daughter who
married Wm. Burke. (6) George, married Miss Ellett. (7) William,
builder, whose work is still a monument to him in some of the oldest
houses in Richmond, married Gabriella Lipscombe, of King William
county, Virginia; left children, eight, namely: i. William P., a builder;
ii. Martha A., married W. W. Dabney; iii. Mary J., married Charles H.
Smoot; iv. Margaret R., not married; v. George L., married Miss Hardewicke,
of Georgia; vi. Ella H., married John D. Scott, of Caroline
county, Virginia; vii. Charles M., married Mary H. Bosher; viii. Thomas
J., married Fannie A. Jones. (8) James, married Ann H. Hopkins, of New
Kent county, Virginia; succeeded Charles Bosher in 1814 in the carriage
business now carried on by R. H. Bosher's Sons, and was also founder
of the Richmond Fire Association, and its president; also director in
the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac R. R. Co., his children were:
i. John H., married (1) Emily E. Dill; (2) Mary A. Ball. ii. Georgiana
H., married George H. Tompkins; iii. Ann Abigail, married Lewis D.
Crenshaw; iv. James G., married Mary B. Dabney; v. Charles H., married
Mary C. Ingram; vi. Hannah W., married John Petty of Norfolk,
Virginia; vii. Mary F., married Daniel Ratcliffe.

Gideon Bosher married the second time a Mrs. Fox, who was a Miss
Drewry of King William county; homestead was Brandywine. Widow
Fox had four children by her first husband, Drewry, Mary, Sarah Ann
and John Fox. The result of the union of Gideon Bosher with Widow
Fox was five children: Robert H., Sophia, who married Wm. H. Davis,
of Richmond, Virginia; Elizabeth, married Cornelius Dabney, of New
Kent county, Virginia; Isabella, died in infancy; Emily, born after

her father's death, married Dr. Chas. H. Judson of Greenville, South
Carolina.

Robert H. Bosher, only son of the second marriage of Gideon Bosher,
married Elizabeth B., daughter of Johnson C. and Patsy Lipscombe
Eubank, and by this union were eight children, viz.: James, died in
infancy, Robert S., married Mattie Cox of Richmond; Edw. J., married
Laura M. Starke of Richmond; Lucy H., married Chas. F. Janney of
Columbia, South Carolina; Sophie J., not married; Wm. J., not married;
Charles G., married Kate L. Langley of Norfolk, Virginia; Dr.
Lewis C., not married.

R. H. Bosher moved to Richmond from King William county in 1830,
and served an apprenticeship in the carriage factory of his half-brother,
James Bosher. In 1843 he became a partner in the business. In 1852
he assumed entire control of it, his brother retiring, and he carried on
the business successfully until his death, on November 21, 1885. He
was prominent in the business community, a consistent member of the
First Baptist church, and deacon in the same for many years; for more
than twenty years superintendent of the Sabbath-school. After his
death his sons, Edw. J. and Charles G. Bosher succeeded to the business
under the firm name of R. H. Bosher's Sons. This is the oldest
business of the kind in the Southern States, having been established
in 1814.

Edw. J. Bosher was educated in Richmond, and left school to enter
the Confederate States army in the Richmond Howitzers, with which he
served until the surrender at Appomattox. Returning to Richmond he
went into his father's establishment. At Richmond, December 24, 1868,
he married Laura M., daughter of Thomas J. and Sarah Hutchinson
Starke. They have two children, J. S. and E. W. Bosher.

Charles G. Bosher, was born in Richmond, July 5, 1857, was educated
at the Richmond High School, and went into his father's establishment
in 1873. On October 12, 1887, he married Kate L., daughter of
Charles H. and Portia Deming Langley, of Norfolk, Virginia.