3'o
\1RG1.\IA BIOGRAPHY
has executed portrait-busts and bas-relief-j
of John A. Kennedy, William Page. K
Swain (iifford. Arthur Ouartley, Puiyard
Taj'lor (for the memorial tablet in Cornell
University), W'inslow Plomer, Erminnie A.
Smith, and Edmund C. Stedman. His larger
works include the Tarrytown monument to
the captors of Major Andre ; a statue of
\\'ashington for the government of Vene-
zuela; two flags for the soldier's monuiDent
at Lawrence, Massachusetts ; two bas-reliefs
for the monument in Herkimer countv, New
York, commemorating the battle of Ons-
kany, and a statue of Washington for the
monument at Newburg. W'ashington is one
of his favorite subjects, and he has ])nb-
lishcd a series of papers on his portrait^'.
Van de Vyver, Augustine, born at Hoes- (lonck, Belgium, December i, 1844. He was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood in Brussels, Belgium, in 1870, and was con- secrated bishop of Richmond, Virginia, Oc- tober 20, 1889.
Baker, William Washington, born Octo- ber 20, 1 84 4., ne;.r Hallsboro, Chesterfield count), \'irginia, son of John Daniel Baker
- -rid Ann Elizabeth, daughter of William
Howard and Mary Taylor, his wife. He was brouglu up in the country, but was trail in his youth, and did not perform any severe manual labor. His mother died when he was only nine years of age. He attended a private school taught by Dr. R. B. W in- free, and at the age of twelve, in 185(1, at hi.s own desire, began his apprenticeship in the office of the Danville "Register." After- wards he worked on the Richmond "En- t|Uirer," where he had charge of the print- ing and press rooms, and mailing at night. Iri the sijring of 1863 he enlisted in the pri-
vateer service of the Confederate navy un-
der Capt. John Yates Beall. His service
v»as on Chesapeake Bay, crippling the com-
merce of the enemy and destroying light-
houses. In September, 1863, when sharing
with fifteen others in an attempt to surprise
a Federal gunboat, he was captured and
confined in irons in Fort McHenry, near Bal-
timore, for nearly six weeks. To save him
and his associates from being shot as priva-
teers, the Confederate authorities held an
equal number of Federal prisoners in irons
ir. Charleston, South Carolina, as hostages
for their proper treatment as prisoners of
war. This had its effect ; the irons were
removed from Mr. Baker, and he was trans-
ferred to Fortress ]\Ionroe and afterwards
to Fort Norfolk and later to Point Look-
out, where in the spring of 1864 he was ex-
changed, and proceeded to Richmond.
There he was placed on light duty as clerk
in Provost Marshal Carrington's office, and
n-mained until the evacuation of Richmond,
being among the last to leave the city. He
then joined Gen. Lee's army at Amelia
Court House, and was with the Twenty-fifth
Virginia Regiment in the battle of Sailors
Creek. He rejoined the army at High
Bridge, and connected himself with a Texas
regiment with which he served until the
surrender at Appomattox Court House.
After being paroled, he set out for Richmond,
but at Jude's Ferry took work on a farm.
Later he formed a partnership with .\. T..
B. \\'. and J. II. Martin, under the name of
Martin Brothers iv Baker, for manufactur-
ing lumber, grinding sumac and tanning
leather, at Hallsboro and Manchester, \'ir-
ginia, and after the death of his partners,
he succeeded to the business, which he still
conducts. He has served as justice of the
