Dennis Partridge
Julius L. Witz (1878–1936) was a Staunton banker, manufacturer, civic leader, and two-term mayor. He guided the growth of major furniture and textile businesses, supported education and community causes, and held prominent roles in banking and industry. This genealogical account traces his family, marriage to Irene Adams, three daughters, and lasting influence on the Shenandoah Valley.
Samuel Beery Hoover was a Harrisonburg certified public accountant, businessman, and farmer profiled in History of the Shenandoah Valley (1952). He led S. B. Hoover and Company, served the Wetsel Seed Company, managed farms including historic Fort Egypt Farm, and held civic, library, Rotary, professional, and Presbyterian affiliations. He and Mary Lucy Strickler had two children.
Sydney French Small (born October 31, 1893, in Norfolk) advanced through the Norfolk and Western Railway to become vice-president in 1935. He served as Roanoke’s mayor from 1934 to 1938, held leadership roles in regional businesses, served as a World War I Army Air Service lieutenant, and coordinated civilian defense during World War II. Married Nathalie Pace in 1922.
Benjamin Lee Kagey of Lexington rose from banking positions in New Hope and Staunton to become president of Peoples National Bank of Lexington in 1949 and executive vice-president of the Bank of Glasgow. A Roanoke College graduate and former Air Service cadet, he led wartime, Red Cross, hospital, church, and fraternal activities. He married Bernice Eans and had one daughter.
George Dunglinson, Jr. (1882–) was an English-born mining engineer who became executive vice-president of the Norfolk and Western Railway Company in Roanoke. The biography traces his career from Alabama Polytechnic Institute and West Virginia mining to railway leadership, civic involvement, business directorships, and family life with his wife, Marie Boyd, and daughter, Mary.
Colonel Charles S. Roller, Jr. continued his family’s longstanding educational tradition as owner and operator of Augusta Military Academy in Fort Defiance, Virginia. A Virginia Military Institute graduate and World War I Army veteran, he taught at several universities before purchasing the academy in 1949. The biography also details his family genealogy and son’s legacy at the school.
Carl H. Tabor rose from a railroad water boy in 1907 to vice-president and general manager of Norfolk and Western Railway in Roanoke. Born in Baptist Valley in 1893, he served as a Field Artillery officer during World War I and advanced through railroad management. His biography also notes his marriage to Una Lee Welsh, Methodist faith, and civic affiliations.
James Kirk Ring led Roanoke City Mills as executive vice-president from 1941, following World War I officers’ training and a career in the family-owned flour and feed business. A Virginia Military Institute graduate, he also held banking, broadcasting, civic, and fraternal roles. He married Margie Davis in 1929, and they had one son, James Kirk Ring Jr.
Howard Johnston Benchoff served as headmaster of Massanutten Academy in Woodstock, Virginia, from 1905, shaping education and community life in the Shenandoah Valley. A graduate of Franklin and Marshall College and Columbia University, he helped advance Shenandoah National Park, founded Woodstock’s Rotary Club, supported civic improvements, and served the Evangelical and Reformed Church.
Robert H. Smith (1888–?) was a Baltimore native who built his entire railroad career with the Norfolk and Western Railway, advancing from chainman to president and director by 1946. A Princeton-trained civil engineer, he also served on corporate and educational boards. He and Mary Elizabeth Wysor had five children and lived in Roanoke, Virginia.