William Mahone (1826 - 1895)

Born 1 Dec 1826 in Southampton, Virginia, United States

Husband of Otelia (Butler) Mahone — married 7 Feb 1855 in Washington D.C., United States

Died 8 Oct 1895 at age 68 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States

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Preceded by Robert E. Withers

William Mahone US Senator (Class 1) from Virginia 1881—1887

Succeeded by John W. Daniel

Biography

Parents: Fielding Jordan Mahone 1802–1855 Martha Drew Mahone 1804–1868

Siblings Nancy Jordan Mahone Manry 1825–1891 Susannah Mahone Briggs 1830–1878

Spouse: Otelia Butler Mahone 1836–1911 m. 7 Feb 1855, District of Columbia, USA

Children Infant Daughter Mahone unknown–1870 Lomax Mahone unknown–1873 William Mahone 1856–1927 Robert Butler Mahone 1858–1914 Otelia Mahone 1860–1862 Lomax Mahone 1863–1867 Otelia Mahone 1864–1868 Otelia Mahone McGill 1868–1935 Infant Daughter Mahone 1872–1872

Civil War Confederate Army Major General, US Senator. Born in Monroe, Southampton County, Virginia, son of Tavern keeper Fielding Jordan Mahone and Martha Drew of Hertford, North Carolina. His grandfathers were veterans of the war of 1812. William was nearly five years of age when the Nat Turner insurrection occurred in Southampton County. His father was then Lieutenant Colonel of the Southampton militia therefore he played and important part in the overthrow of the insurrection. During this time the family moved to the town of Jerusalem (now Courtland) where his father opened a Tavern across from the county courthouse. As a youth Billy carried the mail and was a wiz at the gaming table. He gained a primary education from the county schoolmaster and learned mathematics from his father. When he was fifteen he entered the Littletown Academy located in Sussex County. He was a student for 2 years gaining a social, cultural as well as a scholastic value. In 1844 less than 18 years of age he was appointed a State Cadet at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington Virginia. He graduated in 1847 8th in a class of 12. In 1848 to1849 he was a Teacher at the Rappahonnock Academy in Caroline County, Virginia. 1851 to 1861 pursuing his fascination for the railroad, he was appointed engineer of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad and later General Superintendent of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad. During this time he meet and married Otelia Butler, daughter of Dr. Robert Butler and Otelia Voinard. The Mahone's would name the station stops along the newly completed Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad. On the outbreak of the civil war William was appointed Quartermaster general of Virginia and then Colonel of the Sixth Virginia Infantry Regiment; promoted to Brigadier General November 1861, and then promoted to Major General on July 1864 for his performance at the Battle of the Crater near Petersburg, Virginia. In 1864 during the war he was elected to the Virginia General Assembly. After the war he returned to engineering rebuilding the Norfolk and Petersburg line and late in 1865 he was President of the South Side Railroad. In 1877 he ran for Governor, which was unsuccessful. In 1881 to1887 he served, as one of two Virginia's State Senator's in the US Senate, the other was his good friend Harrison Holt Riddleberger. He died in Washington DC.

Senator from Virginia; born in Southampton County, Va., December 1, 1826; graduated from the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington in 1847; taught two years at the Rappahannock Military Academy; became a civil engineer with the Norfolk & Petersburg Railroad and rose to president, chief engineer, and superintendent; joined the Confederate Army and took part in the capture of Norfolk Navy Yard; was commissioned brigadier general and major general in 1864; at the close of the Civil War returned to railroad engineering, and became president of the Norfolk and Western; elected to the United States Senate as a Readjuster and served from March 4, 1881, until March 3, 1887; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1887; chairman, Committee on Agriculture (Forty-seventh Congress), Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds (Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses); died in Washington, D.C., October 8, 1895; interment in Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg, Dinwiddie County, Va.|Bibliography: American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Blake, Nelson. William Mahone of Virginia: Soldier and Political Insurgent. Richmond: Garrett and Massie, 1935.

Maj. Gen. William Mahone served in the United States Civil War.
Side: CSA

William Mahone is Notable.

MAHONE, WILLIAM VIRGINIA. Colonel, Sixth Virginia Regiment Infantry, , 1861. Brigadier general, P. A. C. S., November 16, 1861. Major general, P. A. C. S. (temporary rank), June 1, 1864; declined. Major general, P. A. C. S., July 30,1864. Died at Washington, D. C., October 8, 1895. Commands. Brigade composed of the Third Alabama, the Sixth, Twelfth, Sixteenth and Forty-first Virginia, and Second (afterward the Twelfth) North Carolina Regiments Infantry, Anderson's Division, A. P. Hill's Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. Division composed of Wright's Georgia, Weisiger's Virginia, Saunder's Alabama, Harris' Mississippi and Finegan's Florida Brigades, Army of Northern Virginia, 1864-1865. Source: General Officers of the Confederate States of America Major-General William Mahone was born at Monroe, Southampton county, Va., December 1, 1826. His family in Virginia was descended from an Irish progenitor of the Colonial period. Both his grandfathers served in the war of 1812, and his father commanded a militia regiment during the Nat Turner insurrection. He was graduated at the Virginia military institute in 1847, after which he taught two years at the Rappahannock military academy. He then entered upon a career as civil engineer in which he became distinguished, engaging in the construction of new railroads in Virginia, notably the Orange & Alexandria and Norfolk & Petersburg lines. Overcoming obstacles that had been pronounced insuperable in the construction of the latter line, he subsequently became president of the railroad company. He then conceived his great project of consolidating various roads into a system from Norfolk to Bristol, Tenn., with the ultimate object of extending connections to the Mississippi and to the Pacific coast. But these enterprises were brought to a sudden check by the political events of 1860-61. He promptly offered his services to Virginia, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, and soon promoted colonel of the Sixth Virginia regiment. Serving first at Norfolk, he was promoted brigadier-general November 16, 1861. After serving in the defense of Drewry's bluff, he fought his brigade in Huger's division at Seven Pines, where his men and Armistead's struck the enemy a telling blow on the second day. He participated in the Seven Days' battles before Richmond, and in Anderson's division of Longstreet's corps conducted his brigade into action at the battle of Second Manassas with conspicuous gallantry, receiving a severe wound which prevented his participation in the Maryland campaign, though his famous brigade was distinguished in the valorous defense of the South mountain passes. Returning to his command, he served through the succeeding struggles on the Rappahannock and in Pennsylvania, and during the first day's fighting in the Wilderness was intrusted with the command of his own, Wofford's, Anderson's and Davis' brigades, in an attack on the flank and rear of Grant's advance, which rolled Hancock's command back in confusion and promised to repeat the victory of Chancellorsville, when Longstreet fell, as Jackson had fallen on the former field. When his division commander was called to fill Longstreet's place, Mahone was given command of Anderson's division, and Longstreet added his voice to that of A. P. Hill in recommending the promotion of the dashing infantry chieftain. As a division commander, though without the official rank, he was distinguished in a successful attack upon Hancock, May 10th, and the severe repulse and almost capture of a portion of Warren's corps on the North Anna. Before Petersburg he brilliantly defended the Weldon railroad, and at the time of the breaking of the Confederates lines by the explosion of a mine, July 30th, he was specially distinguished. Moving promptly with his division to the relief of Gen. Bushrod Johnson's men, he engaged in repeated desperate charges, which finally resulted in the utter repulse and terrible slaughter of the enemy. Here the tardy promotion arrived, he being promoted major- general on the field by General Lee, which was promptly confirmed by the President and Congress. Of Mahone's part in the battle of the Crater, Col. W. H. Stuart, of the Sixty- first Virginia, has said: "The whole movement was under his immediate and personal direction, and to him, above all, save the brave men who bore the muskets, belong the honor and credit of recapturing the Confederate lines." To the last he held his men together in a remarkably spirited and unified organization, which was inspired with a strong esprit du corps, and distinguished for readiness to take ail chances in either defense or assault. He surrendered at Appomattox, and returned to the railroad management from which he had been called four years before. Becoming president of the two lines extending from Petersburg to Bristol, Tenn., he consolidated the three companies into the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio railroad company, which he managed until the financial crisis of 1873, when a foreign combination gained control and the system became known later as the Norfolk & Western. Though defeated in this great enterprise he managed that upon the sale of the lines $500,000 was paid to the State of Virginia for her claim, the whole amount of which he subsequently caused to be appropriated for educational purposes. Before the close of the war General Mahone had served in the Virginia senate in addition to his duties in the field, and during the reconstruction period he exerted a very powerful influence toward the comparatively peaceful restoration of home rule which was brought about in his State. In 1878 he was defeated in a contest for the Democratic nomination for governor. In 1879, under his leadership, the "Readjuster" party was formed in Virginia, which for a time controlled the State, and General Mahone was elected to the United States Senate, where he soon became identified with the Republican party, which through his efforts carried the State elections in 1881. He led Virginia delegations to the Republican national conventions of 1884 and 1888, and in 1889 was nominated for governor by his party, but defeated. He continued to retain political leadership, and in his later years made his home at Washington, where he died October 8, 1895.

Source: Confederate Military History, vol. IV, p. 634

Sources

• Year: 1850; Census Place: James City, Virginia; Roll: 953; Page: 266a
• Marriage Records. District of Columbia Marriages. Clerk of the Superior Court, Records Office, Washington D.C.
• Year: 1860; Census Place: Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia; Roll: M653_1366; Page: 529; Family History Library Film: 805366
• Year: 1870; Census Place: Lynchburg Lynch Ward, Campbell, Virginia; Roll: M593_1638; Page: 530B
• Year: 1880; Census Place: Petersburg, Dinwiddie, Virginia; Roll: 1363; Page: 395B; Enumeration District: 095
• "Virginia Deaths and Burials, 1853–1912." Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2010
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8339/william-mahone: accessed 01 September 2022), memorial page for William Mahone (1 Dec 1826–8 Sep 1895), Find a Grave Memorial ID 8339, citing Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg, Petersburg City, Virginia, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave .
• U.S., Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, US
• Appletons' Cyclopedia of American Biography; Volume: Vol. IV
• United States. Congress. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2005.
• Historical Data Systems, comp. American Civil War General Officers [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA
• William Mahone on Wikipedia
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress