ROBERT TEMPLEMAN CRAIGHILL.
Some mention of the ancestry of the subject of this sketch has been made
in that preceding, with the record of his brother, Dr. Craighill. The paternal
line may be more definitely traced, as follows: William Craighill, great,
great grandfather of Robert Templeman, was born in England, came
to Virginia in colonial days, and settled in Westmoreland county.
Nathaniel, his son, was born in Westmoreland county, accompanied the
early settlers beyond the Blue Ridge, and made his home in Jefferson
county, where his son, William Price Craighill, was born. William
Nathaniel, son of William Price, and father of Robert Templeman, was
born in Jefferson county, January 26, 1808, and died at Charlestown,
that county, September 6, 1887. Robert Templeman was born in
Charlestown, April 25, 1843, and was married at Lynchburg, October
11, 1865, Rev. Wm. H. Kinckle officiating. The bride was M. Edley,
daughter of Dr. Joseph V. Hobson, of Richmond, Virginia, and Sarah
Norvell, now deceased. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Craighill are seven
living, one deceased: Carrie T., born September 7, 1866, married now
and living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; William N., born December
23, 1868, died October 10, 1870; Robert Edley, born July 24, 1871;
Edward A., December 29, 1873; Joseph H.; Sarah Norvell; Mattie
Holliday; Samuel Preston; the younger children still at home.
Mr. Craighill studied law in early life, and was for eighteen years a
successful practitioner in Lynchburg. During the war he was a member
of the 12th Virginia Cavalry. At the Yorktown centennial he served,
with rank of colonel, on the staff of the Governor of Virginia. He has
ever declined active participation in political affairs, but is devoted to
every cause that tends to advance the welfare of community and
State. In literature he is known as the author of the "Virginia Peerage."
He is well advanced in "the mystic rite," 32d degree Mason, Knight
Templar, and deputy grand master of the order in the State. He is a
trustee of the Lynchburg Female Orphan Asylum, and of the Virginia
Theological Seminary, and many years a vestryman. In 1885 he became
one of the proprietors of the Lynchburg Fertilizer Co., and wholesale
dealer in leaf tobaccos, the firm now having an enormous business,
extending from New York to Alabama.
