author
Hugh Blair Grigsby
1806–1881
A Virginia historian, lawyer, and public figure, he is remembered for turning a lifelong love of early American history into influential writing and public service. His career linked journalism, politics, and scholarship at a time when Virginia was still defining how it would remember its past.
1 Audiobook
Discourse of the Life and Character of the Hon. Littleton Waller Tazewell
by Hugh Blair Grigsby
About the author
Born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1806, Hugh Blair Grigsby built a varied career as a lawyer, newspaper editor, legislator, planter, and historian. He represented Norfolk in the Virginia House of Delegates before the Civil War and became widely known for his deep interest in Virginia's colonial and revolutionary history.
He wrote historical addresses and biographical studies that helped preserve the memory of important early Virginia figures and institutions. Later in life, he served as the 16th Chancellor of the College of William & Mary, holding that position from 1871 until his death in 1881.
Grigsby's surviving papers show how broad his interests were, with correspondence, diaries, notes, and other records reflecting years of reading, writing, and public engagement. He is still remembered as one of nineteenth-century Virginia's notable historical writers.