REV. LEWIS F. COSBY: D. D.
Was born in Staunton, Virginia, on the 14th day of January, 1807,
and died in Abingdon, Virginia, on the 6th day of July, 1883. Dr.
Cosby was a prominent minister in the Methodist Protestant church,
and was a man of deep and fervent piety, beloved by all. His parents
were Dabney and Frances D. Cosby, now deceased, whose remains rest
in the cemetery at Raleigh, North Carolina. He was married twice,
first to Miss Jane E. Bekem, of Abingdon, a lady of rare gifts and accomplishments.
By this marriage seven children were born, viz.:
Jane Frances, Virginia Eleanor, Charles Vincent, John Dabney, Lewis
Thomson, Sarah Elizabeth, William H. Cosby. Mrs. Cosby departed
this life June 13, 1853. All of said children have married. Jane
(now deceased), married Edward Zollickoffer, Virginia (now deceased)
married Dr. J. W. Miller, Charles (now deceased) married Mary E.
Hamilton; John, Miss Sue M. Litchfield, Lewis T., Miss Kate S. Mitchell,
Sally E., D. A. C. Webster, W. H., Miss Kate Hayden. Mrs. Zollickoffer
lett surviving her five children, Virginia, two, Charles, three.
Dr. Cosby married secondly Mrs. Elizabeth Montgomery, of Greene
county, Tennessee (a very excellent lady, beloved by all who know her),
who survives him.
Charles V. Cosby at the time of his death was a prominent merchant
of Shreveport, Louisiana. John D. Cosby has been connected with public
affairs in Washington county, having been sheriff of the same.
Lewis T. Cosby was clerk of the circuit court of said county for nearly
seventeen years, and is now a member of the Bar thereof. All of the
male members of the family (except William) participated actively in
the war between the States. Charles V. at the close of the war was a
staff officer in the Trans-Mississippi Department, with rank of major;
John D. and Lewis T. were in the cavalry of the Army of Northern
Virginia.
Among the maternal ancestors of these sons of Rev. Dr. Cosby were:
Lieutenant John Carson, their mother's uncle, who was a soldier in the
Revolutionary war, and Charles S., his brother, who served in the war
of 1812. Charles S. Bekem, a brother of Mrs. Jane E. Cosby, was a
distinguished member of the Bar of Southwest Virginia, and was a
number of times elected to the Legislature, being voted for by both
parties. He departed this life on the 19th of August, 1875, aged seventy-three
years. The Cosbys, on the side of their father, are of Scotch
descent, and on their mother's side Irish.
