Armistead C. Gordon



Armistead Churchill Gordon (December 20, 1855–1931) was a Virginia lawyer and a prolific writer of prose and poetry.

Background


Gordon was the son of George Loyall and Mary Long (Daniel) Gordon, as well as the grandson and biographer of William F. Gordon. Through his mother, he was a descendant of William Randolph and John Stith.

Gordon attended the University of Virginia for two years, beginning in 1873, then taught school and studied law, joining the bar in 1879. He practiced law in Staunton, Virginia, where he was mayor for two years, and served as Commonwealth's Attorney. He was a member of the Boards of Visitors of the College of William & Mary and the University of Virginia, where he also served as rector, and he was the first chairman of the Virginia State Library Board. His tenure on the University of Virginia board included the aftermath of the burning of The Rotunda. He received an honorary of Doctor of Laws degree from the College of William & Mary in 1906 and an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Washington and Lee University in 1923. He was a president of The Virginia Bar Association, for 1920-21.

Gordon wrote numerous other published works, including stories in Scribner's magazine and Harper's magazine, and other works including a biographical sketch of William J. Robertson that was later published in a book of "Great Lawyers." His many public speeches include a speech from 1915 on the occasion of the unveiling of the monument to John Tyler in the Hollywood cemetery at Richmond, Virginia.

Publications
Works by or about A.C. Gordon include:

Poetry

 * Befo' de War: Echoes in Negro Dialect (Armistead Churchill Gordon & Thomas Nelson Page). New York: Scribner's, 1888; New York: Scribner's, 1893.
 * For Truth and Freedom: Poems of Commemoration. Staunton, VA: A. Shultz, 1898.
 * Vitali Lampada. A Song for a Centenary Year. 1901.
 * The Ivory Gate. New York: Neale Publishing Co., 1907.
 * The Western Front. Staunton, VA: privately printed, 1928.
 * The Fount of Castaly. Charlottesville, VA: 1934.

Law Poetry Anthologies
Armistead Churchill Gordon, "Law at our Boarding-House," in Ina Russelle Warren (ed.), The Lawyer's Alcove: Poems by the Lawyer, for the Lawyer and about the Lawyer 175-176 (New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1900) (Buffalo, New York: William S. Hein & Co., 1990)

===F

Prose

 * An Outline of the Federal Money System. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1895.
 * The Gay Gordons: Ballads of an Ancient Scottish Clan. Staunton, VA: Albert Shultz, 1902.
 * Gift of the Morning Star: A story of Sherando. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1905.
 * Robin Aroon, a Comedy of Manners. New York: Neale Publishing Co., 1908.
 * William Fitzhugh Gordon. A Virginian of the Old School: His Life,Times,and Contemporaries (1787-1858). New York: Neale Publishing Co., 1909.
 * Armistead C. Gordon & Edwin Alderman, J.L.M. Curry: A Biography. New York: Macmillan, 1911.
 * Maje: A Love Story. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1914)
 * Ommirandy Plantation Life at Kingsmill (illustrated by Walter Biggs). New York: Scribner's, 1917.
 * [http://books.google.com/books?id=w8dEAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Armistead+Churchill+Gordon%22&as_brr=1&ei=mpPaR9H2MIbktAPs_rHxAQ Figures From American History: Jefferson Davis''. New York: Scribner's, 1918.
 * Gordons in Virginia: With notes on Gordons of Scotland and Ireland Hackensack, NJ: W.M. Clemens, 1918; Rutland, VT: Tuttle Antiquarian Books, Inc., 1995. (Hackensack, New Jersey: W. M. Clemens, Limited ed., 1997)
 * Some Lawyers in Colonial Virginia. Richmond, 1921.
 * A Bibliography of the Published Writings of Armistead C. Gordon, LL.D., LITT.D., 1923. Staunton, VA: Privately printed for the author by the McClure Co., 1923.
 * Memories and Memorials of William Gordon McCabe (2 volumes), Richmond, VA: Old Dominion Press, 1925.
 * Allegra: The story of Byron and Miss Clairmont Minton. Balch & Co., 1926.
 * In the Picturesque Shenandoah Valley. Richmond, VA: Garrett & Massie, 1930.

Edited

 * Virginian Writers of Fugitive Verse. New York: J.T. White & Co., 1923.
 * Men and Events: Chapters of Virginia history. Staunton, VA: McClure Co., 1923.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy West Virginia University.