James Halyburton was born February 23, 1803 in New Kent County, VA, and died January 26, 1879 in Richmond. VA .His mother was Martha (Patty) Washington Dandridge. Her father was Bartholomew Dandridge the brother of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, the wife of President George Washington.

Halyburton was the Suitsboys' great grandfather. He had a daughter by his first wife, (?) Hepdren. The daughter's name was Martha. She did not marry.

Halyburton's second wife was Ann Elizabeth Giles, the daughter of William B. Giles, who was a member of the first three U.S. Congresses, a US Senator and the Governor of Virginia. William Giles is the Suitsboys great, great grandfather.

They had seven sons only one of which had children. That was Peyton Gwynn Halyburton, the Suitsboys' grandfather and Dorothy Dandridge Halyburton Suits' father.

The other sons were: William Giles, James Dandridge, Adolphus Townes, J. Burbidge, Fanny Halyburton, and Thomas C.

Halyburton also had an illegitimate son by Ruth Morris one of his household slaves. The son's name was Edward Everett Morris. He lived in the house with his mother and half-syblings.

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James Halyburton received an AB degree from Harvard College in 1823 and attended the University of Virginia School of Law. He was in private practice beginning in 1824 and became a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. He was the Commonwealth's attorney, New Kent Circuit, Virginia, until 1844 when he was nominated by President John Tyler, confirmed by the Senate, and commissioned a federal judge of the US District Court, Eastern District of Virginia. He served in this capacity for 17 year 1844 - 1861.

He resigned his federal judgeship April 24, 1861,and became Judge, District of Virginia Confederate States of America the day Virginia passed the Ordinance of Secession. (The actual legal language by which the seceded states severed their connection with the Federal Union.)

Edward Everett Morris

Although the Confederate Constitution provided for a Supreme Court, one was never established, largely because of political disagreements. In the absence of a chief judge, Judge Halyburton, as ranking judge of the Confederate capital, swore in Jefferson Davis at Davis's second inauguration, February 22, 1862. (Davis had been first sworn in as president February 22, 1861, under the CSA provisional constitution.)

After the war Halyburton was engaged in private practice of law 1865 - 1874 with his brother-in-law Thomas Giles. During that period he became one of the first professors in the law school of Richmond College.

In the census of 1860 James Halyburton reported having four household slaves. One of the slaves was Ruth Morris, a mixed race woman. She gave birth to Halyburton's son, Edward Everett Morris.

One of Edward Morris' descendants is Shirlee Taylor Haizlip. She has traced the genealogy of Edward Morris down to the present day. This genealogy may be found in Haizlip's book, The Sweeter the Juice, which is still available through Amazon.com.

The University of New Haven awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in recognition of the societal importance of  The Sweeter the Juice.  When her alma mater, Wellesley College, celebrated its 125th anniversary, Shirlee was honored as an outstanding alumna along with Hillary Clinton and Shirlee’s classmate and friend, former Secretary of  State Madeline Albright.

Peyton Gwynn Halyburton James Halyburton's son, Peyton Halyburton, is the Suitsboys' maternal grandfather. He was born October 10, 1850 in Richmond, VA, and died at the age of 63, March 25, 1914 in St. Louis, MO. He was a teacher and superintendent of schools. He was the only son or daughter of James Halyburton who had offspring. Peyton Halyburton married Ella Josephine Poe (who we called Mommom.) They had one child, Dorothy Dandridge Halyburton, who is the Suitsboys' mother and the last of the Halyburtons.

Col. John Dandridge of Chestnut Grove was a distinguished colonel, planter and Clerk of the Courts of New Kent County, Virginia The Dandridge family goes back to Bartholomew Dandridge, (Drayton St. Leonard, Oxfordshire, b. abt 1580, d. 1638.) His son was Wm. Dandridge (Drayton St. Leonard, Oxfordshire, b. 1612, d. 1693.) His son was John Dandridge (Oxford, Oxfordshire b. 1655, d. 1731), His son was Col. John Dandridge* (b. 1700, d. 1756) who immigrated to America with his brother William at age 14 in 1715. (Photo above.) His daughter was Martha Dandridge.  At age 18 she married Daniel Parke Custis a wealthy planter two decades her senior. She had two children by Custis a son and a daughter: Daniel (1751-1754) and Frances (1753-1757) who died in childhood, but two other children, John (Jacky) Parke Custis (1754-1781) and Martha (Patsy) Parke Custis (1756-1773) who survived to adulthood.  Daniel Custis' death in 1757 left Martha a rich widow.  Then Martha at aged 27 became the wife of George Washington, aged nearly 27, on January 6, 1759.  They had no children.  Martha's great-granddaughter, Ann Randolph Custis, married Gen Robert E. Lee. Col. John Dandridge's son and younger brother of Martha, was Bartholomew Dandridge (b. 1737, d, 1785) Bartholomew Dandridge* was the father of Martha Washington Dandridge* who married William Halyburton, the father of Judge James Dandridge Halyburton. (Photo top of page.) Bartholomew Dandridge studied law and quickly made made an outstanding reputation. He was a Burgess and member of the Virginia Convention of 1776.  In 1779, Dandridge was a member of the Privy Council and Judge of the General Court and because of that he was a judge of the first Court of Appeals.  He held that position until his death in 1785, *Confusing same names.