The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1919-11-26
NOTED KENTUCKY
AUTHOR, SOLDIER,
ENGINEER DEAD
CAPT. FITZHUGH, FATHER OF
DR.. L. D. FITZHUGH DIES AT
HIS KENTUCKY HOME.

DR.. L. D. Fitzhugh, we'll known
pharmicist of MaryVille, and one of
the chemists for the Aluminium Com
pany, was called to his home at
Lexington, KY, last week by the
death of his father, Capt. R. H.
Fitzhugh. The following account of
Capt. Fitzhugh's life is taken from
the Courier-J Journal, Louisville, KY:
Lexington, KY, Nov. 16.-Capt. R.
H. Fitzhugh, Confederate soldier
member of Gen. Robert E. Lees
staff, and an engineer, author and
philanthropist of countrywide note,
died at his home here. He was 80
years old.
His children, all of whom are here,
include Mrs. Daisy Fitzhugh Ayers,
Washington society correspondent for
The Courier-Journal; Mrs. W. L. Nc
Lean, Knoxville, Tenn, writer; Mrs.
Harry Wells Smith, Montgomery,
Ala; Mrs. Walter Shapter New
Brunswick, N. j., and L. D. Fitzhugh,
Maryville, Tenn.
Capt. Fitzhugh has been failing in
health since his youngest daughter,
MISS Lizzie OJudIl lLLHuSl, ulCu III
Washington several months ago.
He said during his last conscious
moments, that she had visited him the
night before, and comforted him.
Sketch of His Life
Capt. Robert Hunter Fitzhugh was
born May 16, 1886, of slave-holding
parents, in Caroline county, on the
banks of the Rappahannock, in Vir-
ginia.
He attended Rappahannock Aca-
deny and later entered the University
of Virginia, where he pursued an
academic and engineering course. At
the outbreak of the war between the
States he entered the Confederate
army and later held the rank of
Captain on the staff of Gen. Robert
E. Lee, serving during the entire four
years of the war.
During the first two years of the
rebellion Capt. Fitzhugh had been
confined in three Northern prisons.
He was exchanged at City Point, on
the James River, and it was at this
time that he had his first interview
with Gen. Lee.
He was the son of George Fitzhugh
and Mary Brockenbrough Fitzhugh,
both from colonial stock. His father
was a lawyer and writer, contribut-
ing to all the magazines of his day.
He was a staunch supporter of slavery
and many articles in it's defense flow
ed from his prolific pen.
Inherited Fathers Talent
Capt. Fitzhugh inherited his
fathers literary ability and his maya
zine and newspaper articles have
been widely read. He was human
itarian and philanthropist and during
the last twenty-five years of his life
he devoted all his energies to building
up and supporting the negro orphans
home, of which he was general super
intendent for many years.
He and Mrs. Fitzhugh were loyal
members of Christ Church Cathedral,
with which they have been associated
for the last forty-fve years. They
are the oldest couple included in the
church's membership.
Capt. Fitzhugh came to Kentucky
in his early youth from Richmond,
Va, and settled at Mt. Sterling. He
and Mrs. Fitzhugh came to Lexington
about forty-five years ago.
He was married to Agnes Dade, a
member of a famous old Virginia
family, and the couple celebrated the
golden anniversary several years ago.
Her family estate was at Powhatan,
on the banks of the James river
where Pocahontas saved John Smith
from. execution at the hands of the
Indians.
In the National Museum of Art at
Washington hang two portraits of
Capt. Fitzhugh's ancestors on his
mothers side by Sir Peter Lely, the
court painter of the family of Stuarts
They have been handed down through
the generations of the Fitzhugh
family and were placed in the art
museum by Capt. Fitzhugh's late
daughter, Miss Lucy Stuart Fitzhugh.
Capt. Fitzhugh was civil engineer
and minerologist by profession and
had much to do with development of
transportation and resources in both
Virginia and Kentucky. He planned
and built railroads and accomplished
many other engineering feats.
Hand in hand with his work as an
engineer went his work as volun-
teer missionary. He founded churches
or Sunday schools wherever he found
lack of them and holds the distinction
of having established the first church
worship in the Beattyville region.
The chief interest of Captain Fitz-
hugh's long and varied life was the
development of Kentucky's mineral
and agricultural resources and nro-
motion of the States educational and
spiritual welfare. He was a personal
friend of Andrew Carnegie, Pierpont
Morgan, Sr., and John D. Rockefeller