Meet the notable figures of Virginia's past. These names influenced and shaped Virginia and the United States the way we know it today.
Colonial & Revolutionary | Early American | Civil War | 20th Century
Colonial & Revolutionary
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Nathaniel Bacon
(1647-1676) led "Bacon's Rebellion" against British authority in 1676
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George Rogers Clark
(1752-1818) Charlottesville; Revolutionary War soldier captured Northwest Territories from British
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Patrick Henry
(1736-1799) Hanover; orator, patriot leader, governor; Home:Red Hill; Famous Speech: St. John's Episcopal Church, Richmond
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Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee
(1756-1818) Prince William County; Revolutionary War hero; father of Robert E. Lee
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Richard Henry Lee
(1732-1794) Westmoreland County; presented the proposal for independence to Continental Congress in 1776; Home:Stratford Hall
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George Mason
(1725-1792) FairfaxCounty; author of Virginia Declaration of Rights; Home: Gunston Hall
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Daniel Morgan
(1736-1802) Shenandoah Valley; Revolutionary War soldier; leader of "Morgan's Rifles"
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Pocahontas
(1595-1617) daughter of Indian Chief Powhatan; married John Rolfe
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Peyton Randolph
(1721-1775) Williamsburg; President of First Continental Congress
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John Smith
(1579-1631) leader of first settlement at Jamestown
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George Wythe
(1726-1806) Hampton; first professor of law in an American college, the College of William and Mary
Early American
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Stephen F. Austin
(1793-1836) leader of Texas independence from Mexico movement
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James Barbour
(1775-1842) Orange County; Secretary of War (1825-1828)
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Philip P. Barbour
(1783-1841); Speaker of the House (1821-1823), Supreme Court Justice (1836-1841)
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Henry Clay
(1777-1852) Hanover County; famous orator and statesman; moved to Kentucky after youth in Virginia
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Peter V. Daniel
(1784 – 1860) Stafford County; Supreme Court Justice(1841-1860); Burial:Hollywood Cemetery
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John B. Floyd
(1806 – 1863) Smithfield; Governor of Virginia (1849-1852); Secretary of War (1857-1861)
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Thomas W. Gilmer
Secretary of the Navy (1844)
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Sam Houston
(1793-1863) Rockbridge County; Governor of Tennessee (1827-1829); first President of Republic of Texas (1836-1838)
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Charles Lee
(1731-1782) Cheshire, England; Attorney General (1795-1801)
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John Marshall
(1755-1835) Fauquier County; Chief Justice of Supreme Court (1805-1835)
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John Y. Mason
(1799-1859) Greensville County; Secretary of the Navy (1844-1849), Attorney General (1845-1846)
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Edmund Randolph
(1753-1813) Williamsburg; First Attorney General of the United States (1789-1794); Secretary of State (1794-1795); Governor of Virginia (1786)
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John Randolph
(1727-1784) Williamsburg; congressman, political writer
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Winfield Scott
(1786-1866) Petersburg; General, hero of Mexican-American War
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Alexander H. H. Stuart
(1807-1891) Staunton; Secretary of the Interior (1850-1853)
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Abel P. Upshur
(1790-1844) Northampton County; Secretary of the Navy (1841-1843)
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William Wirt –
(1772-1834) Bladensburg, MD; Attorney General (1817-1829)
Civil War
20th Century
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Henry H. Fowler
(1908-2000) Roanoke; Secretary of the Treasury(1965-1968)
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Carter Glass
(1858-1946) Lynchburg; Secretary of the Treasury (1918-1920)
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John O. Marsh Jr
(1926- ) Winchester; Secretary of the Army (1980-1989)
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Lewis F. Powell Jar.
(1907-1998) Suffolk; Supreme Court Justice (1972-1990)
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Claude A. Swanson
(1862-1939) Pittsylvania County; Secretary of the Navy (1933-1940)
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Maggie L. Walker
(1867-1934) Richmond; first female bank president in America, advocate of black women's rights
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John W. Warner
(1927- ) Amherst County; Secretary of the Navy (1972-1974); U.S. Senator (1979-2009)
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L. Douglas Wilder
(1931- ) Richmond; First elected African-American Governor in U.S. history
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