Gen. Benjamin William Sheridan Cabell (1793-1862)

When delving into research about the early history of Danville, Virginia, the Cabell family appears with prevalence. The first of the Danville branch of the family, Benjamin William Sheridan Cabell, (born 1792) grew up in Buckingham County, Virginia at his family home “Repton.” One major contribution of B. W. S. Cabell was with his business partner William Lewis in the construction of Danville’s canal in 1816 for the Roanoke Navigation Company. The canal enabled the construction of several mills and methods of utilizing the water power for the tobacco industry. The name of Cabell’s mother, former Miss Pocahontas Bolling, is an eyecatcher from the perspective of a Virginia genealogist. She also had an uncle named Powhatan and an aunt named Matoaka, which was the private name of their ancestor Pocahontas. Of further interest, another Bolling brother of Powhatan and Matoaka married Miss Mary Jefferson, a sister to the third U.S. President. The Bolling family held prominence for generations before the Revolution and it is not as uncommon as one might think to find descendants of Pocahontas and her father, the great chief of the Powhatan people over four hundred years ago.

Through the connection to Pocahontas, B. W. S. Cabell was also a descendant of the English explorer John Rolfe, who is credited with bringing tobacco seeds from Venezuela and being the first to cultivate this Spanish variety in North America. For three generations following Rolfe and Pocahontas, there was just one child born from each marriage. Their son Thomas Rolfe (born 1615) married Jane Poythress and had a daughter named after her. Jane Rolfe (born 1650) married a wealthy Englishman named Robert Bolling who arrived in Virginia in 1660. She is believed to have died in childbirth with their son John in 1676. John married and raised six children, therefore all descendants of Pocahontas are also descendants of John Bolling and former Miss Mary Kennon. Their son John Kennon Bolling (born 1700) married Elizabeth Blair, a niece to Rev. James Blair who was the first president of William & Mary College. Finally, their son Robert Bolling (born 1738) was the maternal grandfather of B. W. S. Cabell.

General Cabell formed a distinguished military career beginning with the War of 1812 when he served as a Lieutenant Colonel. Following his service, he moved to Danville and was elected to several political offices during the 1820s including the House of Representatives and the Senate of Virginia. In addition, he served as the second worshipful master of Danville’s masonic lodge number 122. He was eventually promoted to Brigadier General in 1838 and finally to Major General ten years later. He married Miss Sarah E. Doswell of Pittsylvania County and raised a large family, many of whom served as military officers during the Civil War. Among their notable sons were Dr. John Roy Cabell, Brigadier General William Lewis Cabell (who also served three different terms as mayor of Dallas, Texas.), and Dr. Powhatan Bolling Cabell. Another son, Algernon Sidney Cabell, served as a major and quartermaster during the Civil War and afterwards served as sheriff of Logan County, Arkansas. Colonel George Craighead Cabell served as a U.S. Congressman, and two youngest sons passed away during the war. 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin Edward Cabell succumbed to disease at age nineteen at Richmond’s Chimborazo Hospital in 1862, just days before his father’s death as well. Lastly, Col. Joseph Robert Cabell was mortally wounded at the Battle of Drewry’s Bluff in 1864. There were also two daughters in the family–Pocahontas Cabell married John T. Hairston of Hordsville and Sarah Epps Cabell married Ashley L. Davis of Lunenburg County.

When researching Pittsylvania genealogy, one will find many unrelated men within the county named “Cabell” in memory of the influential military officers who led their forefathers across the battlefield. Also, a road near the older parts of Danville bears the name Cabell Street in recognition of the family. In the words of a contemporary, Dr. George Washington Dame, he remarked that Gen. Cabell “was recognized by our citizens as a gentleman of the old Virginia stock.” From the founding of America to the founding of Danville, the history is not too far removed.