Finding Aid to the John Blair Dabney (1795-1868) Sermons (1862-1867)

JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY
2311 MEMORIAL AVENUE
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 24501
(434) 846-0501
JOHN BLAIR DABNEY (1795-1868) SERMONS (1862-1867)
The collection includes fourteen (14) handwritten sermons by John Blair Dabney with
churches and dates delivered. The churches were primarily in Campbell County,
Virginia. Also included is a copy of The John Blair Dabney Manuscript, 1795-1868,
originally published in 1850.

JOHN BLAIR DABNEY (1795-1868)
John Blair Dabney, son of John Dabney and Susanna Dabney Morris, was born 15
December 1795 at the Grove, in Hanover County, Virginia. He studied at HampdenSydney College and graduated in 1811. In 1812, he went to Princeton and graduated
with honors.
In October 1821, John Blair Dabney married Elizabeth Lewis Towles, daughter of
Major Oliver Towles and Agatha Lewis. Their daughter, Maria Louisa Dabney, married
William Cabell Carrington of Charlotte County, Virginia, in 1844.
A lawyer by profession, John Blair Dabney was Commonwealth’s attorney for
Campbell County. He received the Doctor of Laws degree (LLD) from William and
Mary College. He was very much interested in literary pursuits and contributed many
articles on various subjects to different magazines, chiefly The Southern Literary
Messenger.
About fifteen years before his death he became a communicant of the Episcopal
Church. The area around his home had few religious services and he was urged by
Bishop Johns and Bishop Meade to take holy orders in the Episcopal Church. He
ministered to four different churches within ten to twelve miles from his home.
John Blair Dabney died 23 April 1868 at his home, Vaucluse, near Gladys in
Campbell County, Virginia.
[The John Blair Dabney Manuscript, 1795-1868, MS1026, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.]

MS1026