General Notes

David, the son of General Elisha, married Cynthia French, daughter of Captain David and Mary Dingess French, and he became a distinguished Judge; was a member of the General Court of Virginia; Judge of the Kanawha Circuit Court, and was at one time a State Senator from the Kanawha District. He was born about 1795 and died in Giles County, Virginia, in 1864.

He was a jolly man, full of wit and humor, but a most negligent man about his dress. Some good stories of his life as a judge have been preserved, and are worth relating.

As has been said, he was Circuit Judge; his circuit, was a large one, and his mode of travel was on horseback. Before he started on his circuit his wife made up and arranged his clothing for the trip, which often lasted for weeks, and on his return his wife would search his saddle bags for his soiled clothes, frequently finding none; he had simply, by his forgetfulness, left them at his boarding houses.
On one occasion, when he was about to start off for his courts, his wife prepared for him and packed in his saddlebags a dozen new shirts, and enjoined upon him that he should exercise prudence in taking care of the same. On his return, on examination by his wife of the saddlebags, she found not a single shirt, whereupon she said: "Just as I expected, Mr. McComas, you have brought back no (Note: line appears to be missing from book.)stop throwing off shirts until he had unburdened himself of eleven.
His wife and himself, while he was Circuit Judge and lived in Charleston, made a visit to his relations in Cabell County, and after they had made the rounds, he remarked to his wife, "Well, we must go and see old brother.........." to which his wife inquiringly said,  "Mr. McComas, isn't he in the poorhouse?"
"Yes," said the Judge, "but there is no difference between him and myself; he is on the county and I am on the state."

While Judge McComas was in the Senate of Virginia, it is said that he made the first straight-out secession speech that up to that time had been made in Virginia. He and his wife left no children.