Col. Bolivar Christian

Notes:

CENSUS RECORDS

1850 Census
Name: Boliver Christian
Age: 24
Birth Year: abt 1826
Birthplace: Virginia
Home in 1850: District 2, Augusta, Virginia
Gender: Male
Family Number: 1430
Household Members:
Boliver Christian 24

1870 Census
Name: Bolivar Christian
Age in 1870: 43
Birth Year: abt 1827
Birthplace: Virginia
Home in 1870: District 1, Virginia
Race: White
Gender: Male
Post Office: Staunton
Household Members:
Wm H Sale 33
Isabella J Sale 28
Laura Sale 5
Will C Sale 1
Kizie Shepherd 45
Dennis Baptist 40
Jane Baptist 40
Kate Mahoney 35
Mary Welch 21
Lizzie Cambridge 19
Samuel Sterling 60
Jane Sterling 54
Alfred Sowers 67
Bolivar Christian 43

1900 Census
Name: Bolivar Christian
Age: 74
Birth Date: 1826
Birthplace: Virginia
Home in 1900: Staunton Ward 1, Staunton City, Virginia
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Patient, Western State Hospital
Marital Status: Married
Household Members:
Bolivar Christian 74

MILITARY RECORDS

Sources: The Virginia Regimental Histories Series
Name: Bolivar Christian
Occupation: Lawyer
Age at Enlistment: 36
Enlistment Date: 19 Aug 1861
Rank at enlistment: Adjutant
State Served: Virginia
Survived the War: Yes
Service Record: Commissioned an officer in Company S, Virginia 52nd Infantry Regiment on 19 Aug 1861.Promoted to Full Lt Col on 15 May 1863.
Birth Date: 26 Apr 1825
Death Date: 17 Jul 1900
Death Place: Western State Hospl, Staunton, Virginia

COLLEGE INFORMATION

Catalogue of the officers and alumni of Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, 1749-1888, Board of Trustees, BALTIMORE: JOHN MURPHY & CO. 1888.

http://www.archive.org/details/catalogueofofficOOwashrich

Class of 1844-1845

1259. Bolivar Christian, A. B,, A. M., Augusta Co.: Lawyer:
Lieutenant-Colonel C. S. A. : Member Virginia House of Delegates : Member Virginia Senate: Trustee Washington and Lee University, 1858-

On the law faculty

Practice and Pleading.
1875 Col. Bolivar Christian 1882-

OBITUARY

Staunton Spectator and Vindicator; Staunton, VA; 20 July 1900

Col. Bolivar Christian, who in his day was prominent in the affairs of this State, died at the Western State Hospital on Tuesday morning, aged about 75 years. Deceased was a son of John B. and Jane T. Christian, and was born at Greenville. Col. Christian is survived by one sister and one brother, Mr. A.G. Christian, of Mint Spring, and Mrs. W.T. Richardson, of Waynesboro.

Col. Christian studied law and in 1849 commenced the practice of his profession in this city, and was elected to the legislature, serving in both branches until the war came on. During the war he was a member of the 52 Regiment serving in the commissary department. After the war he resumed the practices of law, and continued it until his health gave way.

The funeral took place Wednesday at Bethel church, the interment being in the cemetery there by the side of his mother, the services at the grave being conducted by Rev. R.A. Lapsley assisted by Rev. Dr. Geo. W. Finley, of Tinkling Spring. The following gentlemen acted as pall-bearers: Thomas D. Ranson, J.N. McFarland, James Bumgardner, Lewis Harman, Wm. F. Smith and J. McD. McCue.

Honorary -- Jos. A. Waddell, Dr. T.V.L. Davis, C.G. Merritt and Wm. J. Nelson.

BOLIVAR CHRISTIAN MURDER SUSPECT

The Asylum Poisonings: Death, Politics, and ?Low Cussedness? in Staunton

Bill Bynum, Reference Archivist

Out of The Box, Library of Virginia; 19 November 2014,

http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2014/11/19/the-asylum-poisonings-death-politics-and-low-cussedness-in-staunton/

On the morning of 24 February 1883, just after receiving their regular liquid medications, seven male patients lost consciousness. Four died almost immediately, two died in the next three days, and one recovered. An eighth patient vomited and experienced other ill effects, but recovered in a few days.

A coroner?s inquest concluded that the victims? cups of medicine must have been poisoned while sitting in an unlocked hall cabinet the previous evening. Other patients, taking the same medicine which had not been left in the cabinet, had no problems. Dr. W.W.S. Butler, head pharmacist at the asylum, testified that no poisons were missing from the dispensary.

Autopsies were performed, and University of Virginia chemistry professor John W. Mallet used the latest forensic techniques to analyze three of the victims? stomachs and their contents. Mallet concluded that the poison used was aconitia (also known as aconitine), an extremely toxic extract of the aconite or monkshood plant, and the coroner?s jury agreed. The asylum pharmacy had a bottle of highly diluted ?tincture of aconite,? but Mallet thought it was not strong enough to cause sudden death, and local drug stores did not stock any drugs derived from aconite.

The superintendent of the asylum, Dr. Robert S. Hamilton, suspected the poisonings were politically motivated, intended to discredit him and the Readjuster-Republican coalition administration of Governor William E. Cameron. Cameron had made heavy use of his patronage power, including the appointment of a new asylum board of directors who in turn had appointed Hamilton and replaced most of the former staff. To investigate the case, Hamilton, with Cameron?s approval, hired the famed Pinkerton?s National Detective Agency. Two Pinkerton agents interviewed druggists in Richmond, Alexandria, Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia to see which ones had sold aconitia, but found no good leads.

F. M. Smiley, a 27-year-old Pinkerton investigator with two medical degrees, went undercover in the asylum for over two months, posing as a patient suffering from ?melancholia? (depression). Soon the case had as many suspects as an Agatha Christie novel. Hamilton?s initial suspects were two melancholia patients: Charles J. Armistead, a former theology student who had once attempted suicide by drug overdose, and Bolivar Christian, a lawyer and former Confederate officer. Both were, in Hamilton?s words, ?sharp, shrewd, highly educated and were also strong adherents of the opposition [Democratic] party and were bitterly opposed to the present management of the Institution.?

Armistead was, according to Hamilton, ?a thorough chemist? familiar with drugs. Christian had previously accused Dr. Butler of tampering with his own medicine. Both had access to the hall at the time when the medicine was poisoned. Detective Smiley, playing his part well as a patient who had occasional ?bad spells? but was generally rational, gained the confidence of Armistead, Christian, and a third suspect, a supervisor named Hull who disliked Hamilton and, in the investigator?s opinion, ?would stoop to any low cussedness.? Smiley also heard rumors that Dr. H. S. Crockett, Hamilton?s second-in-command, was ?working his hardest to ruin Dr. Hamilton.?

Some people found it suspicious that Crockett?s uncle William B. Byars, who had been under treatment for melancholia at the asylum for three and a half years and who had unusual access to the pharmacy because of his family connection, was discharged three weeks after the poisonings and soon moved to Texas. ?The general opinion is that Dr. C. furnished the ?aconitia? and that his uncle used it? to kill the victims, wrote Smiley.

Asylum attendant Duet Andrews, one of the few remaining Democrats on the staff, told the detective that he thought the poisoning ?was done to beat the d[amne]d readjusters and I wouldn?t squeal if I knew? who did it. Smiley suspected Andrews may have conspired with another attendant and with a former attendant, a ?dirty mean scamp? who had been fired but returned to Staunton the day before the poisonings. On the other hand, the Democratic editor of the Staunton Telegram newspaper believed the poisonings were not murders, but accidents caused by Dr. Butler?s carelessness.

Pinkerton superintendent R. J. Linden?s final report dismissed the possibility that a patient or staff member could have caused the deaths, concluding only that ?the poisoning resulted from no carelessness or lack of precaution on the part of the faculty, but was evidently? perpetrated by parties outside of the institution, whom it is unnecessary and would also be injudicious to name at this time.? Tantalizingly, Dr. Hamilton said ?I have reason to believe that the detective had other information than that reported, and that he had other information which led him to suspect a certain individual.? For whatever reason, no charges were brought.

While the asylum board of directors considered themselves and Hamilton to be vindicated, their political enemies thought otherwise. John N. Opie, Democratic member of the House of Delegates for Augusta County and Staunton, demanded an investigation of ?gross mismanagement? at the asylum.

Spurred by the committee report and by other complaints, the General Assembly?s 1883-1884 session passed acts removing the boards of all state hospitals as of 15 April 1884, and putting the choice of new boards in the hands of the Board of Public Works instead of the governor. Soon Hamilton and his entire management team were out the door, and the old administrators from before the 1881 election were back in charge. There was one new staff member: clerk C. J. Armistead, one of the former inmates and suspects! The opponents and supporters of the ousted administrators agreed on only one thing: ?the whole affair is still shrouded in doubt and mystery.? Over 130 years later, the mystery endures.


Buried:
Grave location, obituary, and tombstone photo:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=22033914

Bolivar married Margaret Paxton 26 May 1875, Loudoun Co. VA. Margaret was born 1850, New York; died Feb. 1900; was buried , Union Cemetery, Leesburg, Loudoun Co. VA. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Married:
Virginia, Marriages, 1785-1940. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
Name: Bolivar Christian
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Single
Age: 45
Birth Date: 1830
Birth Place: Augusta Co., VA.
Marriage Date: 26 May 1875
Marriage Place: Loudoun, Virginia
Father: John B. Christian
Mother: Jane T. Christian [Jane F.]
Spouse: Margaret Paxton
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Single
Age: 25
Birth Date: 1850
Birth Place: New York
Father: Chas. R. Paxton
Mother: Rachel A. Paxton
FHL Film Number: 32374

1. Charles P. Christian was born ca 1876, Virginia; died 25 Jun 1881, Loudoun Co. VA.

Notes:

Buried:
Grave location and tombstone photo:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=105762201

John married Jane Tate FINLEY 26 Jul 1820, Augusta Co. VA. Jane (daughter of Samuel FINLEY and Mary TATE) was born 22 Jun 1797, Augusta Co. VA; died 22 May 1854, Augusta Co., VA; was buried , Bethel Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Middlebrook, Augusta Co. VA. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• _UID: EE4FD0B222AB4758934CCA9ABAA0C0AC3418

Notes:

CENSUS RECORDS

1850 Census
Name: Jane T Christians
Age: 50
Birth Year: abt 1800
Birthplace: Virginia
Home in 1850: District 2 and a half, Augusta, Virginia
Gender: Female
Household Members:
Saml F Christians 27
Jane T Christians 50
Cornelia J Christians 21
Sarah A Christians 19
Archibald Christians 17

Buried:
Grave location and tombstone photo:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=37799112
Inscription:
Our Mother
Jane Tate
Wife of
John B. Christian
And Daughter of
Samuel Finley
Born June 22, 1797
Died May 22, 1854

Notes:

John's first wife Isabella Tate was first cousin once removed from his second wife Jane Tate Finley.

Married:
Dodd, Jordan R., et al.. Early American Marriages: Virginia to 1850. Bountiful, UT, USA: Precision Indexing Publishers.
Name: John B. Christian
Gender: Male
Spouse Name: Jane Finley
Spouse Gender: Female
Marriage Date: 26 Jul 1820
County: Augusta
State: Virginia

Other Events:

• _UID: E5F8295137534F7EA35E867838632ED64C3D

Notes:

Buried:
Grave location and tombstone photo:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=37807690

Samuel married Mary TATE 20 Sep 1796, Augusta Co. VA. Mary (daughter of John TATE, Esquire and Jane (Jinney) Berry) was born ca 1776, Augusta Co. VA; died 25 Aug 1829, Augusta Co. VA; was buried , Bethel Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Middlebrook, Augusta Co.VA. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• _UID: 7570A97DECCE439288B115E601C8E2C03914

Notes:

Chalkley, Lyman. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish settlement in Virginia: Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County, 1745-1800. (Rosslyn, Virginia: The Commonwealth Printing Company, 1912-1913 in Three Volumes).

Finley vs. Tate--O. S. 280; N. S. 99--Bill by Samuel Finley and Mary, his wife, daughter of John Tate, who died December, 1802, testate. John's son, Isaac, removed to Kentucky. John at death left following children, viz: Oratrix Mary (married at that time). Nancy also married then to Adam McChesney, Ellen, Drusilla, Jane, Elizabeth, Clorinda, one other daughter and two sons, all since dead under age, unmarried and intestate. Nancy McChesney died soon after her father, leaving an only child, Jane Eliza McChesney. Her husband, Adam McChesney, has also died, leaving Jane Eliza his only heir and infant. Ellen is now wife of John Finley of North Carolina. Drusilla has married John D. Ewin of Rockbridge. Jane has married Jacob Vanlear of Augusta. Elizabeth and Clorinda are unmarried (latter is infant).? [Chalkley, V2, p 212]

Buried:
Grave location and tombstone photo:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=tate&GSiman=1&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=48&GScnty=2810&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=37808111&df=all&

Notes:

Married:
Dodd, Jordan. Virginia, Marriages, 1660-1800 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1997.
Name: Mary Tate
Spouse: Samuel Finley
Marriage Date: 22 Sep 1796
Marriage Location: Augusta County, Virginia

Notes:

In in Augusta County tax lists from 1792 through 1790 During his lifetime, this John was known as John TATE Jr to distinguish him from his father and as John TATE, then he was Esq. from 1791 to 1801 for the rest of his lifetime.

Chalkley, Lyman. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish settlement in Virginia: Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County, 1745-1800. (Rosslyn, Virginia: The Commonwealth Printing Company, 1912-1913 in Three Volumes).

Vol. 2 - Finley vs. Tate--O. S. 280; N. S. 99--Bill by Samuel Finley and Mary, his wife, daughter of John Tate, who died December, 1802, testate. John's son, Isaac, removed to Kentucky. John at death left following children, viz: Oratrix Mary (married at that time). Nancy also married then to Adam McChesney, Ellen, Drusilla, Jane, Elizabeth, Clorinda, one other daughter and two sons, all since dead under age, unmarried and intestate. Nancy McChesney died soon after her father, leaving an only child, Jane Eliza McChesney. Her husband, Adam McChesney, has also died, leaving Jane Eliza his only heir and infant. Ellen is now wife of John Finley of North Carolina. Drusilla has married John D. Ewin of Rockbridge. Jane has married Jacob Vanlear of Augusta. Elizabeth and Clorinda are unmarried (latter is infant).

WILL ABSTRACT

Page 252.--18th April, 1801. John Tate's will--To wife and children, whole estate to be kept together for their benefit. Executors, wife Jinney, friends Robert Tate, Samuel Finley, Isaac Tate. Teste: John Tate. 3d; James Henry, Wm. Fulton, Geo. Berry. Proved, 27th December, 1802. Jinney, Robert, and Sam. qualify.



Buried:
Grave location and tombstone photo:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=TATE&GSiman=1&GScid=552495&GRid=53753624&
Inscription:
PVT, VA Militia, Revolutionary War
Plot: Row 4, 3

John married Jane (Jinney) Berry. Jane (daughter of George Berry and Agnes Hall) was born Bef 1751, Augusta Co. VA; died 1835, Augusta Co., VA; was buried , Old Providence ARP Church Cemetery, Spottswood, Augusta Co. VA. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

From WeRelate.org

http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:John_Tate_%2828%29

Several researchers have believed that the wife of this John Tate was a Jane "Jenny" Steele, but recently, after examining the Revolutionary Pension Application and Statement of John Berry, it appears that John Tate's wife was actually Jane "Jenny" Berry, the sister of John Berry, both children of George Berry (est. 1725-1804) of Augusta County, Virginia. In his Revolutionary War Service Statement, John Berry clearly states that he served for one month in the place of John Tate, his brother-in-law, and served under [then] Capt. William Tate, who appears to be the brother of this John Tate, as follows:

That also he (John Berry) volunteered for two months which tour he served out under Capt Thos Smith [Thomas Smith] in the fall of the year seventeen hundred and eighty who went from Staunton Virginia. The other officers not recollected. that also, he went as a substitute for his brother-in-law John Tate and served one month.

This tour was served in the fall about Sept. shortly previous to Cornwallises capture in Oct?r. 1781 [Cornwallis, 19 Oct 1781] under Capt. William Tate in Colo Boyers regiment again with Major Long ? Gen?l Layfayette Gen?l Wayne ? Gen?l Mulenburgh [sic: Lafayette, Anthony Wayne, Peter Muhlenberg] regular officers were along and commanded but this declarant was more under the immediate command of Gen?l [William] Campbell who was a militia officer & died on this Expedition Major [Thomas] Armisted is also recollected as a regular officer. that he served several minor tours as a volunteer besides the foregoing ? particulars of which are not sufficiently recollected to set them forth that on the second Expedition above named he marched from Augusta County Va. to Richmond where he staid in service the ballance of s?d tour.

It should also be noted that George Berry, John Tate's apparent father-in-law, was a witness to John Tate's will, listed above, also adding additional support to John Tate's wife being a Berry instead of a Steele.

In addition, Based on the research by the Berry Family Research Team, they also feel fairly confident that John Tate Esquire's wife was Jane 'Jinny' BERRY, a daughter of George Berry (c1720-1803).. Their research is at the following website:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~berry/newupload/pages/report.htm

-----------------

Chalkley, Lyman. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish settlement in Virginia: Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County, 1745-1800. (Rosslyn, Virginia: The Commonwealth Printing Company, 1912-1913 in Three Volumes).

Vol. 2 - Finley vs. Tate--O. S. 280; N. S. 99--Bill by Samuel Finley and Mary, his wife, daughter of John Tate, who died December, 1802, testate. John's son, Isaac, removed to Kentucky. John at death left following children, viz: Oratrix Mary (married at that time). Nancy also married then to Adam McChesney, Ellen, Drusilla, Jane, Elizabeth, Clorinda, one other daughter and two sons, all since dead under age, unmarried and intestate. Nancy McChesney died soon after her father, leaving an only child, Jane Eliza McChesney. Her husband, Adam McChesney, has also died, leaving Jane Eliza his only heir and infant. Ellen is now wife of John Finley of North Carolina. Drusilla has married John D. Ewin of Rockbridge. Jane has married Jacob Vanlear of Augusta. Elizabeth and Clorinda are unmarried (latter is infant).

Birth:
Old Providence Cemetery records indicate birth before 1751.

Buried:
Grave location and photo:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=TATE&GSiman=1&GScid=552495&GRid=54057521&