William Mahone (Congressional Biographical Directory)

MAHONE, William, a Senator from Virginia; born in Southampton County, Va., December 1, 1826; graduated from the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington in 1847; taught two years at the Rappahannock Military Academy; became a civil engineer with the Norfolk & Petersburg Railroad and rose to president, chief engineer, and superintendent; joined the Confederate Army and took part in the capture of Norfolk Navy Yard; was commissioned brigadier general and major general in 1864; at the close of the Civil War returned to railroad engineering, and became president of the Norfolk and Western; elected to the United States Senate as a Readjuster and served from March 4, 1881, until March 3, 1887; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1887; chairman, Committee on Agriculture (Forty-seventh Congress), Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds (Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses); died in Washington, D.C., October 8, 1895; interment in Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg, Dinwiddie County, Va.