Figure of the Week

Dr. Valentine Yelverton Conway (1803-1881) was the son of John Moncure Conway (1779-1864) and Catherine Storke Peyton (1786-1865).  John M. Conway was clerk of the Stafford Court for nearly fifty years.  In 1824 Valentine Y. Conway married his first cousin, Mary Catherine Washington Henry (1806-1890), the daughter of Edward Hugh Henry (c.1781-1815) and Elizabeth Washington Peyton (died 1823).  Mary Catherine was also the great granddaughter of Patrick Henry.  During the 1840s, Valentine was Surveyor General of Florida and Lake Conway there was named for him. Upon returning to Stafford, V. Y. Conway resided at Cabin Hill near Stafford Courthouse and he provided medical care to Stafford residents for many years.  During the War Between the States, Dr. Conway was a surgeon for the Confederate forces.  While camped near Stafford Courthouse Union troops burned his house, which stood about where the Jacoby law office is now located across Courthouse Road from the funeral home.