VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
475
ginia. who bore him children: llcnry,
Rachel, Charles. William and h'anny, the
latter dying in infanc}-.
(11) Charles William Jennings, son of Dr. William Henry Jennings, was borit in Jjedford City, Virginia, in 1859, died at his farm near Bedford City, April 20, 1913. He was a ])rosperous farmer, a man of high character and good standing in his commu- nity. He married Nanny D. llorsley, born m Bedford City, who survives him, a resi- dent of the same town. She is a daughter of Nicholas Horsley. born in Nelson county, a farmer and a Confederate veteran serv- ing throughout the entire war, 1861-65. He married (first) Miss Cabell, who bore him Benjamin and Cabell, the latter now^ a farmer at Forest Depot, Virginia. Nicholas Horsley married (second) Nanny Deans, of Wilson, North Carolina, who bore him five children, all living except Irene, who married John J. Clopton. The living are: Nanny D., widow of Charles William Jen- nings ; Kate, unmarried ; Mabel, married Frank Poston, of Washington. D. C. ; Ro- land, an insurance broker of Indiana. Chil- dren of Charles William and Nanny D. (Horsley) Jennings: William Elbert, of fur- ther mention ; Mary Fanny, a graduate of the Union Cooperative School, of Bedford City, class of 191 1, residing with her mother in their Bedford City home ; Charles Hor- sley, Edw^ard. Louise, Catherine, and Wat- kins, all residing with their mother and at- tending school.
(HI) Dr. William Elbert Jennings was born in Bedford City, Virginia, April 23, 1886. He attended Randolph-Macon Acad- emy at Bedford City, until his graduation with the class of 1903, then entered the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, at lUacks- burg, Virginia, going hence to the medical department of the University of \^irginia, where he received his degree M. D., class of 19C9. He served one year as interne at Richmond Municipal Hospital, then for eighteen months was resident physician at the State Tuberculosis Sanitarium, at Ca- tawba, Virginia, locating in the fall of 191 1 at Danville, A'lrginia. He is well established in practice there specializing in diseases of the chest and lungs, a branch of medical science he has closely studied, and in prac- tice has had more than the usual experience through his connection with the Tubercu- losis Sanitarium. He is a member of the
County. State and Medical societies, the
hirst IJaptist Church, the Merriewold Coun-
try and the Tuscarora clubs. In political
faith he is a Democrat.
Dr. Jennings married in Danville, Decem- ber 10, 1913, Essie Lee Dodson, born in Danville, May 5, 1889, daughter of C. W. and Dora ( Dupree) Dodson, the former a merchant of Danville of many years stand- ing.
Taylor. The Taylor family, of which Warren Poindexter Taylor is the present distinguished representative, is one of the old \irginia houses which from the earliest years has held a prominent place in the affairs of the state, until its name has be- come inseparably associated with its tra- ditions and history. The Taylors belong to that splendid group of families w'hich began in colonial times as something closely re- sembling the landed aristocracy of the Old World, and wdiich retain, even today, much of the courtliness and grace, the hospitality and elegance which we are apt to think of as aristocratic in character. Yet the major- ity of these old and influential families formed a group which was among the most determined in demanding the democratic institutions which Great Britain denied the American colonies, and in resisting the en- croachments on popular liberty under- taken by the same short-sighted power. It has been, indeed, their especial glory that they placed the ideal above what seemed their personal interests, struggling side by side wnth the humblest for the new regime which would in a large measure curtail their peculiar privileges and position. Nor has their oflice since the revolution been less lofty, the ofifice of illustrating to the world that amenities and graces of life are not ex- clusive possessions of an idle aristocracy, but may flourish as successfully, nay with the added charm of universal sympathy in the midst of a democracy.
(I) The first member of the Taylor fam- ily wath which this sketch is concerned was James Taylor, a native of Carlisle, England, who was born there shortly before the close of the first half of the seventeenth century. Indeed his residence in that place lasted over a few^ years into the second half of the same century, but in 1658 he came to this coun- try, and here founded the distinguished family so well represented in England to-
