THE DANGERFIELD FAMILY.
The history of the Dangerfield family in this country, so far as
I have been able to ascertain, is contained in the following statement.
"The first of the name who emigrated to America were two
brothers, John and William, who came to this country early and
settled on the James River: one or both of them intermarried with
the Blands and Robinsons, and held a high social position in that
section. The residence of John Dangerfield, in New Kent, retained
the family name within the memory of one living at this time. It
is not known whether they held any office or not. In 1660, John
Dangerfield, a descendant of John, located a patent in the county
of Rappahannock, and at Greenfield, which remained in the family
till 1821. He married in Rappahannock, and left a son, William.
He became a justice and colonel, and married a member of the
Batherst family of England,—a Miss Meriwether, of Batherst, Essex
county. He left a son William, who married a Miss Fauntleroy,
of Nailor's Hold. He was also a justice, and left three sons,—John,
William, and Leroy. William inherited the greater portion of his
estate, including the family residence, and was one of the seven
colonels appointed at the commencement of the Revolution. He
married a Miss Willis, of Fredericksburg, and died during the
Revolution, at his seat,—Coventry, Spottsylvania,—and left a large
family. John, the eldest, inherited the estate in Essex, and succeeded
to the offices, civil and military, held by his ancestors. He
married, first, Miss Southall, of Williamsburg, and secondly, Miss
Armstead, of Hess. Leroy, the brother of the last William, filled
the office of justice for several years, and married a Miss Parker,
daughter of the first Judge Parker, of Westmoreland county, and
descendant of Alexander Parker, a justice of Rappahannock. He
removed to Frederick county, Virginia.
To the above contributions from Mr. Micou, the worthy Clerk of
Essex, and another friend, I have something more to add. The father
of the first Lomax who came to this country was one of the silenced
and ejected ministers in the time of Charles I. of England,—a pious,
conscientious, and superior man. His son John, who came to this
country, intermarried with the Wormlys of Middlesex. Lunsford
Lomax, son of John, married Judith Micou, daughter of the first
Paul Micou, who settled in Virginia, and who was a French surgeon
and Huguenot. Major Thomas Lomax, father of the present Judge
Lomax, was his son. The family seat is that beautiful estate
situated on Portobago Bay, a few miles below Port Royal, on the
Rappahannock. The eldest sister of Judith Micou, who married
Lunsford Lomax, married Moore Fauntleroy. One of her daughters
married the Rev. Mr. Giberne, of Richmond county. Another
of this connection, who was the grandmother of Mr. Micou, the
present Clerk of Essex, married the Rev. Mr. Mathews, one of
the ministers of St. Anne's parish, Essex.
I have been furnished by a worthy friend with some notices of
the connection and relatives of the Rev. Mr. Mathews, the substance
of which I take pleasure in adding to what has been written
concerning St. Anne's parish, Essex. The families of Mathews
and Smith and Bushrod intermarried at an early period. The Rev.
John Mathews also married a Miss Smith. His son Thomas was a
member of one of our earlier Conventions; his daughter Mary
married Dr. Alexander Somervail, of Scotland; his daughter
Fanny married James Roy Micou, father of the present Clerk of
Essex; his daughter Virginia married Dr. William Baynham, of
Essex. There were also two other daughters.
The two physicians who married daughters of the Rev. Mr.
Mathews were most eminent men in their profession, and of very
high moral character.
Dr. Somervail, though brought up in the Kirk of Scotland, was
for some time an avowed infidel. It is said that some remarks
dropped by Mrs. Hunter, mother of the present Senator in Congress,
during a religious discussion she had with the celebrated Dr.
Ogilvie and one of his Virginia followers, in the presence of Dr.
S., made an impression on his mind, and led him to a serious examination
of Christianity, which resulted in his conversion. He
was most eminent in his profession, contributing largely to Dr.
Chapman's Medical Journal, and being the author of an important
discovery, by which one of the most painful diseases of the human
frame is relieved. He was the physician of the poor as well as
the rich. On leaving Scotland his father said to him, "If you
ever oppress the poor my curse is upon you." Neither the curse
of his earthly or heavenly Father came down upon him for neglecting
the poor. On the very day of his death, in his seventy-sixth
year, he paid friendly visits to some of his poor patients. Dr.
Somervail, after his conversion, connected himself with the Baptist
Church, but was beloved and esteemed by all. The Hon. James
M. Garnett sent an extended obituary of him to the National
Intelligencer at the time of his death.
Not less eminent was the other son-in-law of the Rev. Mr.
Mathews,—Dr. William Baynham. He was the son of an old
vestryman of the Episcopal Church in Caroline county, who was
also an eminent physician. The son, after studying seven years
under his father, completed his preparations for the practice of
medicine under the celebrated Dr. William Hunter, of London.
Young Baynham distinguished himself while in England, and had
he remained there would certainly have attained to the highest
station in his profession. He also was the discoverer of something
very important in the medical department. The eulogies bestowed
upon him, both at home and abroad, for moral character and great
medical attainments, of which I have specimens before me, prove
that he was a man of great celebrity. The Hon. Robert Garnett,
of Essex, furnished the press with a high encomium on his
character.
