William Daniel

William Daniel, Jr. (November 26, 1806 – March 28, 1873) was an American slaveowner, lawyer, legislator and jurist who served on the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, that state's highest court, from 1846 to 1865. Early and family life Daniel was born on November 26, 1806, to Margaret Baldwin Daniel probably in Winchester, Virginia at her parents' home. His father, William Daniel Sr. (1770-1839) was a lawyer, legislator and beginning in 1813 judge of the general court in Cumberland and Campbell Counties based in Lynchburg. His father's second wife, the widow Paulina Jordan (1780-1840) was a daughter of Col. John Cabell (d. 1815) and the widow of Hector Cabell (son of Col. William Cabell), and this man's elder sister Mary Cornelia Briscoe Daniel (1804-1843) married Mayo Cabell and would die at the Cabell estate "Union Hill" after birthing nine children. His mother's brother was Judge Briscoe Baldwin. He was thus descended from the First Families of Virginia. Daniel received a private education suitable to his class, then studied at Hampden–Sydney College and graduated in 1826. He then traveled to Charlottesville to study law in 1827-1828 at the University of Virginia. Personal life Daniel married twice. His first wife, Sarah Ann Warwick, brought as a dowry a house from her father John Marshall Warwick, as is noted in a modern historical marker on the site. He then lived at Point of Honor, now a city-owned national historic site in Lynchburg. Their son John Warwick Daniel (1842-1910), became known as the "Lame Lion of Lynchburg" due to his disability incurred as a Confederate soldier and political accomplishments, including promoting the Confederate "Lost Cause". She died after the birth of their daughter Sarah Ann Warwick Halsey (1845-1918). In 1850 Judge Daniel remarried, to Elizabeth Hannah Cabell (1811-1892), daughter of Judge William H. Cabell and prominent Richmond socialite, and built a house Rivermont for his bride across Blackwater Creek, but they had no children. Career Admitted to the bar in 1828, when he was barely twenty-one years old, he began a private legal practice around Lynchburg, Virginia, the county seat of Campbell County and adjacent to Cumberland County.