 His son and grandson would become prominent Mathews County officials by century's end.Also, Miss Sally Louisa Tompkins, of a prominent Mathews family, went to Richmond, Virginia and established a private hospital for Confederate wounded, which achieved significant success, such that she was granted an officer's commission on September 9, 1861 by Confederate President Jefferson Davis and continued to nurse the wounded until 1865.In 1882–1886, complaints about out-of-state watermen dredging local oyster beds (and destroying young oysters) produced an "oyster war" during the administration of Virginia Governor William E. Cameron.