author
Virginius Dabney
1835–1894
A Virginia writer with a strong feel for place, he turned local memory and storytelling into fiction that found a wide readership in the late 1800s. His best-known work, The Story of Don Miff, quickly reached multiple editions and helped preserve a romantic image of the old Commonwealth.
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About the author
Born at Elmington in Gloucester County, Virginia, on February 15, 1835, he studied at the University of Virginia and at first practiced law before turning to literature. Biographical references also note that he traveled in Europe for about a year after graduating.
When the Civil War began, he served as a staff officer in the Confederate army and remained in service through the war. Later accounts describe him as an author of tales rooted in Virginia life and memory, a reputation echoed by later references to his collections about the Commonwealth.
His best-known book was The Story of Don Miff, as Told by His Friend John Bouche Whacker: A Symphony of Life (1886), which contemporary biographical sources say reached a fourth edition within six months. He died in 1894, and although reliable pages located here did not provide a confirmed portrait, his work still marks him as a 19th-century regional voice closely associated with Virginia.