"Captain" R. Henry Boatwright, c. 1909

OBIT: The Lynchburg News, 11 May 1909, p.6 c.4 -
"DIED SUDDENLY. Captain R.H. Boatwright Passed Away Sunday Morning. Captain Robert H. Botwright [sic], one of the best known residents of the city and for many years connected with the railway interests of Lynchburg, died suddenly Sunday morning at his residence, No. 1014 Clay street, heart disease being the cause of his death. Captain Boatwright was engaged in dressing when he was stricken and he died within fifteen minutes. The funeral services, which were very large attended, took place yesterday afternoon at 5 o'clock at the First Baptist church, and were conducted by Dr. J.C. Hiden, assisted by Rev. W.A. Ayers, of College Hill Baptist church. The choir sang the hymns, "Lead, Kindly Light," and "Asleep in Jesus." The interment took place in the Presbyterian cemetery, where Masonic services were conducted by Most Worshipful Thomas N. Davis, after which Messrs. D.T. Walker, A.M. Wray, J.L. Wray and Lewis Campbell sang "The Christian's Good Night." Hill City Lodge, No. 183, and Garland-Rodes Camp, both of which organizations Captain Boatwright was a member, attended in a body. The final services were conducted by Commander John H. Kinnier, of the camp, after which Bugler Ferari blew "taps." The active pallbearers were Thos. R. Leachman, C.H. Almond, J.R. Millner, George A. Diuguid, Jr., D.B. Ryland and J.L. Thompson. The honorary pall-bearers were: McH. Peters, J.T. Jennings, W.W. Marmaduke, H.-- McCausland, J.G.B. Wood, Frank H. Almond, Dr. John Dillard, J.W. Wray, F.W. Whitaker and Ben Snead. The flower-bearers were: M.T. Gauldin, John W. Cousins, A.M. Sowers, W. Mefford, L.A. Myers, Roy Chambers and Walter Chambers. Capt. Boatwright was a native of Cumberland county, but he had been a resident of Lynchburg for more than forty years. He was 66 years of age, and is survived by his wife. He was a gallant Confederate soldier, serving from the beginning to the end of the war in Snead's battery, which enlisted from Fluvanna county. Shortly after the war Captain Boatwright became identified with the James River and Khanawha [sic] Canal Co., and for a time was in charge of one of the packet boats plying on the canal between Richmond and Lynchburg. At the time of the abandonment of the canal for transportation purposes, Captain Boatwright had risen to the position of agent for the company here, but upon the opening of the Richmond and Alleghany railway he became cashier under Mr. T.N. Davis, who was the local agent for that company. Some years later he became agent and when the Chesapeake and Ohio railway purchased the road Captain Boatwright was retained in his position, and he continued in that capacity until a year ago, when he was made commercial agent here, and it was this position he was filling at the time of his death. Captain Boatwright was an active member of the First Baptist church. he was a member of the Hill City Lodge, AF&AM, and for some years had been one of the most active members of the Garland-Rodes Camp Confederate Veterans. He had been for some time an aide on the staff of General McGill, commander of the Virginia Division, United Confederate Veterans, his rank as such being captain. The announcement of Captain Boatwright's death Sunday came as a great shock to his numerous friends throughout the city, for he had been at work Saturday and apparently in his usual health. His life had practically been spent in Lynchburg and few men had more friends here than he, for he was a Virginia gentleman of the old type, whose devotion to duty as a citizen and a Christian had fitted him for the life beyond the grave. In a recent letter to Commander John H. Kinnier, of the Garland-Rodes Camp, Confederate Veterans, Captain C.G. Snead, who commanded the battery in which Captain Boatwright fought during the war, says: "It gives me great pleasure to testify to the good qualities of Comrade R.H. Boatwright, who was a member of my company during the whole war, surrending [sic] with a few of us at Chatham, Va, three days after General Lee had surrendered. He was at his post in every battle and was one of the few men to get into the first engagement around Richmond and was one of the few who stood by me to the last. Respectfully yours, C.G. SNEAD, Captain, Fluvanna Artillery, Nelson's Battalion, Army Northern Virginia."

Left to Right: Lou Carrie (Steptoe) Boatwright (wife); Capt. R. Henry Boatwright; Wm. Henry Steptoe (step-son/son). All are difficult to read, but identifiable in June 2012.

Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch, 10 May 1909.