Joseph Chappell Hutcheson (1842-1924)

US Congressman. Born and raised on the "Mt Airy" plantation near Boydton, Virginia. He graduated from Randolph Macon College and immediately volunteered for service in the Confederate Army. His service included two tours one with the 21st Virginia Infantry and the second with the 14th Virginia Infantry in which unit he served as an officer. Upon the termination of hostilities he attended and graduated from the University of Virginia with a law degree. Once removed to Texas, Captain Hutcheson served in the Texas Legislature and later as a U.S. Congressman from 1893 to 1897. While in the Congress he worked tirelessly to obtain federal backing for the construction of a navigable waterway to Houston. Due to the eventual success and construction of that waterway he is considered one of the fathers of the Houston Ship Channel. His interests outside of the law and politics numbered him as an outstanding bird and fox hunter. He and several other civic minded persons are credited with saving Houston's Glenwood Cemetery from financial ruin in its early development years.

Bio by: Jim Hutcheson (James Sterling H. Jr.)