Allan Bowie Magruder

(Born: about October 1, 1811 - Died: 1885)

American lawyer. His parents were Thomas Magruder and Eliza Bowie. Allan B. Magruder was admitted to West Point on July 1, 1830, although he was dismissed on June 30, 1831. (West Point records do not list his birth date, but do give his age at the time of admission as 18 years and 10 months.) He took up residence in Charlottesville, and became a member of the bar in Albemarle Co., VA in 1838. Just before the Civil War, he moved to Washington, DC, and became a partner in the legal firm of Chilton & Magruder. He married Sarah M. Gilliam on October 29, 1840. (The marriage is recorded in the Richmond Whig & Public Advertiser, p. 4, c. 5, Tuesday, November 17, 1840.) (He should not to be confused with the Kentucky senator of the same name). Magruder was apparently the author of a biography of John Marshall, first published in 1885 (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin). He had a daughter, Julia Magruder, who was born in 1854 and achieved more success as an author than did her father, she having published several novels. Allan B. Magruder did publish Debate on the Punishment of the Wicked and the Kingdom of God; Its Character, Locality and the Time of Its Establishment,; between Allan B. Magruder, of Charlottesville, VA, and Edward E. Orvis, of New London, PA, held at Acquinton Church, King William Co., VA, on the 11-14th of June, 1855 (Richmond: Elliott & Nye). He also wrote The Bible defended and Atheism Rebuked. Reply to Robert G.Ingersoll’s Lectures, “Mistakes of Moses”, “Skulls”, etc.”What Must We Do to Be Saved?” (Chicago; C.H.Jones, 1882). Allan B. Magruder served in the Civil War as a confederate Colonel. Allan’s older brother, John Bankhead Magruder (1810-1871), was a career soldier, achieving the rank of Brigadier-General, and fighting for the Confederate States during the Civil War, being perhaps most remembered for leading the defense of Richmond.

Allan B. Magruder is presumed to be buried in the Magruder family lot in Maplewood Cemetery, Charlottesville, VA. Although some sources give Magruder’s death as in or about 1880, advertisements in the Stephens City Star list Allan B. Magruder as an attorney in 1881 and as late as January 13, 1883. He is known to have sent a letter to the editors of the Philadelphia Times on September 4, 1883. He also wrote to George E. Woodberry on April 23, 1884.) There appears to be no stone to mark his grave, but he is presumably near the grave of his wife, who does have a tombstone. Politically, Magruder appears to have been a Whig.