Volume Map | Following pages |
As the aim of the first volume of this work was to present the biographies of all those who had any connection with the founding of the Colony of Virginia down to the American Revolution, so the aid of this second volume is to present the biographies of the leading figures of the history of the State approximately down to the War for Southern Independence, 1861. For this purpose the book, like the first volume, is divided into eight parts, under the following headings: I. The Fathers of the Revolution; II. Governors of the State; III Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals; IV. Presidents of the United States; V. Judges of the United States Supreme Court; VI. United States Senators; VII. House of Representatives; VIII. Prominent Persons.
Amid such a wide range of persons as is called for by the last division, the Author does not assume that he has been always wise in his selection.
THE AUTHOR. |
[Page 3] [Page 3] [Page 3] [Pages 3-4] [Pages 4-5] [Page 5] [Pages 5-6]
[Page 6]
[Page 6]
[Page 6]
[Pages 6-7]
[Page 7]
[Page 7]
[Pages 7-8]
[Page 8]
[Page 8]
[Page 8]
[Page 8]
[Page 9]
[Page 9]
[Page 9]
[Pages 9-10]
[Page 10]
[Page 10]
[Pages 10-11]
[Page 11]
[Pages 11-12]
Adams, Thomas, son of Ebenezer Adams, of New Kent county, Virginia,
and Tabitha Cocke, his wife, and grandson of Richard Adams, of Abridge, county Essex, England,
citizen and merchant tailor of London, was born in New Kent county, Virginia, about 1730, and was
clerk of Henrico county. He had large business interests with England, and went there in 1762 and
remained till 1774, when he returned, and was one of the citizens to sign the association entered
into by the "late members of the house of burgesses," May 27, 1774. He was chairman of the New
Kent county committee of safety in 1774, member of the old congress, 1778, and signed the
articles of confederation between the states, removed to Augusta county, Virginia, and
represented that district from 1784 to 1788. He married Elizabeth Fauntleroy, widow of his first
cousin, Bowler Cocke, Jr., and left no issue. His will, dated October 12, 1785, was proved in
Augusta county, Virginia, October 22, 1788.
Banister, John, was a son of John Banister, and grandson of Rev.
John Banister, an eminent botanist, who was born in England, and emigrated about the latter
quarter of the seventeenth century from the West Indies to Virginia. He was educated in England,
and studied law at the Temple. He was burgess from Dinwiddie in the assemblies of 1765,
1766-1768, 1769-1771. 1772-1774 and 1775, a distinguished member of the conventions of 1775 and
1776, and of the assembly of 1777, member of the Continental Congress, 1777-1779, and one of the
framers and a signer of the articles of confederation. In 1781 he was lieutenant-colonel of
cavalry under General Robert Lawson, and during the invasion of Virginia was active in repelling
the enemy. Proprietor of a large estate, he suffered repeated and heavy losses from the
depredations of the British. At one time, it is said, he supplied a body of troops with blankets
at his own expense. A number of his letters published in the "Bland Papers," and in Revolutionary
Correspondence," show him as one of the best writers of his day. He resided at "Battersea," near
Petersburg, and died in 1787. He married (first) Patsey, daughter of Colonel Theodorick Bland, of
"Cawsons," and (second) Anne, daughter of John Blair, of Williamsburg, president of the Virginia
council.
Blair, John, Sr., (q. v.,
i-66))
Blair, John, Jr., born at Williamsburg, Virginia, 1732, son of Hon.
John Blair, president of the Virginia council. After graduating from William and Mary he studied
law at the Temple in London, England, and commenced practice at Williamsburg, He was a member of
the house of burgesses for the college of William and Mary at the assemblies of 1766-1768, 1769,
and 1769-1771, when he resigned to become clerk of the council. In the convention of May, 1776,
he again represented the college, and was a member of the committee which in June, 1776, reported
the declarations of rights and state constitution. Upon the establishment of the judiciary he was
elected judge of the general court, of which he became chief justice, and in 1780 a judge of the
high court of chancery. He was a member of the convention, at Philadelphia, in 1787, which framed
the Federal constitution, voting for its adoption, and subsequently for its ratification in the
state convention of 1788. In 1789, by appointment of Washington, he became a justice of the
United States supreme court, and held his seat until 1796, when he resigned. He died at
Williamsburg, August 31, 1800. Among the minor offices held by him was that of bursar of the
college.
Bland, Richard, son of Richard Bland, of "Jordan's Point," Prince
George county, and Elizabeth Randolph, his wife, was born in Williamsburg, May 6, 1710. He was
educated at William and Mary College and at the University of Edinburgh, and for many years after
1748 was a leading member of the house of burgesses. In 1753 he condemned Governor Dinwiddie's
attempt to impose a pistole for land grants as taxation without the people's assent, and in 1757
was the author and champion of the Two Penny Act, which, in claiming for Virginians the right of
controlling their own taxation, was the great preliminary step to the formal measures of the
American revolution. In 1764 he wrote a pamphlet defensive of his cause entitled "the Colonels
Dismounted," in which he asserted the exclusive authority of the general assembly of Virginia
over all matters of domestic concern. When the Stamp Act was proposed the same year, he opposed
it with great zeal upon the floor of the house of burgesses and was one of the committee of nine
which, in December, 1764, prepared the memorials to King, lords and commons. He, nevertheless,
opposed the resolutions of Patrick Henry in May, 1765, on the ground that the British government
had not been given sufficient time to respond to the previous protest. In 1766, he showed,
however, that his opposition to the British scheme of taxation was not diminished by publishing
his pamphlet entitled an "enquiry into the Rights of the British Colonies." In this he emphasized
the views expressed in his "Colonels Dismounted," taking the ground that Virginia was an
independent kingdom, under no subjection to parliament, and only connected with England by the
tie of the Crown. The doctrine thus advanced was considered a "prodigious innovation" in most
parts of the country, though in course of time the patriots came very generally to rest their
cause upon it. His knowledge of history exhibited in the pamphlet gained for him the appellation
of "The Virginia Antiquary."
After the repeal of the Stamp Act, Bland took equally strong grounds
against the Revenue Act of 1767. He was chairman of the committee of the whole house which
reported the resolutions of April 7, 1768, protesting against the act; and when the government of
Great Britain demanded the arrest of the patriots of Massachusetts he was one of the leading
spirits of the legislature in bringing about the adoption of the protest of May 8, 1769, and was
the first person to sign the non-importation agreement entered into at that time. Although new
leaders after this sprang to the front, in the persons of Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee,
Thomas Jefferson and George Mason, Boland continued an able support of the cause of American
liberty. In 1773 he was appointed one of the committee of correspondence, and in August, 1774, he
was appointed a delegate to the first Congress which met at Philadelphia, and was re-elected till
August, 1775, when he declined. He was a member of the Virginia convention of March 1775, and on
the organization of the committee of safety, in July, 1775, he was appointed one of its members.
In December of that year he was a member of the convention which sat at Richmond, and in May,
1776,he was a member of the convention which declared for independence and adopted the first
state constitution. Thus he held continued public service throughout the whole revolutionary
period from the Two Penny Act to the Declaration of Independence. He died in Williamsburg,
October 28, 1776. He married twice, (first) Anne, daughter of Peter Poythress; (second)
Elizabeth, daughter of Benjamin Harrison.
Bland, Theodorick, son of Colonel Theodorick Bland of "Cawsons,"
Prince George county, was born March 21, 1751. At the age of eleven he was sent to England and
studied at Wakefield, in Yorkshire, afterwards pursuing a medical course at the University of
Edinburgh, and in 1764 returned to America. He was among the first in Virginia who opposed the
practice of medicine without a license When Lord Dunmore's seizure of the colony's arms and
ammunition occurred, Bland is said to have been one of those who succeeded in regaining some of
this property. Bland continued to practice his profession until the outbreak of the war of the
revolution, when he volunteered and was appointed captain of the first troop of cavalry raised in
Virginia. As soon as a regiment had been completed he was made lieutenant-colonel, and afterwards
colonel. He distinguished himself at the battle of Brandywine, and at Saratoga was placed in
charge of the British prisoners sent to Charlottesville, Virginia. In 1779, Colonel Bland was in
command of the troops stationed at Albemarle barracks, Virginia. In 1780 he was elected to
Congress, and continued in that body three years. He then returned to Virginia, and was a member
of the state legislature. In 1788 he opposed the adoption of the Federal constitution, being of
the opinion that it was repugnant to the interests of his country. He was, however, chosen to
represent the district in which he lived, in the (first) Congress under this same instrument.
When the assumption of the state debt was under consideration in March, 1790, Colonel Bland spoke
in favor of such assumption, in this respect differing from the opinion of all his colleagues. He
is accredited with considerable talent for poetical writing. He died in New York City, June 1,
1790, at the time of the session of Congress. He was buried in Trinity churchyard. He married
(first) Susan Fitzhugh; (second) Mary Daingerfield.
Braxton, Carter, son of George Braxton, a wealthy planter, and Mary
Carter, his wife, daughter of Hon. Robert Carter, president of the Colonial council, was born at
"Newington," King and Queen county, September 10, 1736, and was educated at William and Mary
College. He married, in 1755, Judith, daughter of Christopher Robinson, who soon died, and he
lived abroad until 1760, when he returned and married Elizabeth Corbin, daughter of Hon. Richard
Corbin, the receiver-general of the customs. He served as a burgess from King William county in
the assemblies of 1761-1765, 1766-1768, 1769, 1769-1771, and 1775, and in the conventions of
August, 1774; March, 1775; July, 1775, and December, 1775. When Patrick Henry marched with his
troops to Williamsburg, in April, 1775, to demand satisfaction for the seizure of the gunpowder,
Braxton was instrumental in obtaining from his father-in-law, Richard Corbin, a draft for the
value of the same. In July, 1775, he was made a member of the committee of safety for the colony,
and in August following was elected a member of Congress to succeed Peyton Randolph, deceased. He
was conservative in his opinions, and drafted in 1776 a form of government for Virginia, which
was to aristocratic in its features to suit the more advanced patriots. He, nevertheless, signed
the Declaration of Independence, and throughout the revolution was a firm and consistent patriot.
He served in the house of delegates from 1777 to 1785, and was a member of two governor's
councils, from 1786 to 1791, and from 1794 to 1797. He died at "Elsing Green," King William
county, October 10, 1797.
Brown, John, son of Rev. John Brown, a graduate of Princeton in
1749, and a Presbyterian minister, was born at Staunton, Virginia, September 12, 1757. He first
went to Princeton College, and remained there till 1779, when with the retreat of the American
army he repaired to Williamsburg, Virginia, where he studied the natural sciences under President
James Madison, of the college, and law under George Wythe. After leaving college he entered upon
the practice of the law at Staunton, and from 1787 to 1789 was a member of the Continental
Congress. He soon after removed to Frankfort, Kentucky, where he was elected as a representative
of the first United States Congress, serving till 1792, when he was elected United States senator
from Kentucky. He was re-elected in 1799, and served altogether fourteen years. He voted to
locate the seat of government on the Potomac. He died in Frankfort, Kentucky, August 28, 1837. B.
Gratz Brown, his grandson, was a candidate for the vice-presidency in 1872.
Bullitt, Cuthbert, son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Harrison)
Bullitt, was born in Prince William county, about 1740, studied law and practiced, was a member
of the county committee of safety in 1744-1776, and a member of the convention of May 6, 1776,
and of the house of delegates in 1777 and 1787. He was also a member of the convention of 1788,
called to consider the new constitution. On December 27, 1788, he was elected a judge of the
general court. He married Helen Scott, daughter of Rev. James Scott. He was a brother of Colonel
Thomas Bullitt, of the American revolution. He died in Prince William county, August 27, 1791.
Cabell, William, (q. v.,
i-202)
Carr, Dabney, son of John Carr, of "Bear Castle," on Elk Run,
Louisa county, and Barbara Overton, his wife, daughter of Captain James Overton, was born October
26, 1743, was schooled at William and Mary College, showed great brilliancy of mind, and was
elected to the assembly of 1772-1774 from Louisa county. Here he presented the resolutions for
the appointment of committees of correspondence the first great step towards a union of
the colonies. His brilliant beginning was, however, cut short by death, May 16, 1773. He married,
July 20, 1765, Martha Jefferson, sister of Thomas Jefferson, and was father of judge Dabney Carr,
of the supreme court of appeals.
Carrington, Edward, son of Colonel George Carrington, and Anne
Mayo, his wife, eldest daughter of Colonel William Mayo, was born in Goochland county, Virginia,
February 11, 1749; was a member of the county committee in 1775-1776; served in the revolutionary
army; was a member of the Continental Congress, 1785-1786; appointed by Washington, in 1789
marshal of the United States district court of Virginia; was foreman of the jury in the trial of
Aaron Burr for treason in 1807; died in Richmond, Virginia, October 28, 1810.
Carrington, Paul, was born in Virginia, March 16, 1733, son of
George and Anne (Mayo) Carrington, and grandson of Dr. Paul and Henningham (Codrington)
Carrington. After 1748 he went to Lunenburg and studied law under Colonel Clement Read. He began
to practice in 1754 and was licensed in 1755. He married, October 1, 1755, Margaret, daughter of
Colonel Clement Read. In 1756 he was appointed King's attorney of Bedford county. He was major of
the militia in 1761, and colonel in 1764. He represented Charlotte county in the house of
burgesses from its formation in March, 1765, until 1775. In 1772 he became county lieutenant and
presiding justice of Charlotte county, and in th same year was clerk of Halifax county. He was a
member of all the conventions from 1774 to 1776, and chairman of the Charlotte county committee
which endorsed the resolutions of the Continental Congress. He was a member of the committee of
safety, 1775-76. On January 23, 1778, he was elected judge of the first general court, and filled
the office until 1807. He died in Charlotte county, January 23, 1818.
Carter, Landon, son of Robert Carter, president of the Virginia
council, and Elizabeth Landon, youngest daughter of Thomas Landon, of Crednal, county Hereford,
England, was born June 7, 1709; educated at William and Mary College; resided at "Sabine Hall,"
Richmond county, and was a member of the house of burgesses from 1748 to 1764 inclusive; was a
strong defender of the Two Penny Act in 1757; engaged in a pamphlet war with Dr. John Camm, the
head of the clergy, in which he took the ground that "necessity made its own law"; in 1764 he was
a member of the committee which reported the remonstrances against the Stamp Act and claimed to
have been largely concerned in drafting these great papers. He spent the rest of his life in
retirement at his splendid mansion, "Sabine Hall," in Richmond county, on the Rappahannock river.
He frequently contributed articles on scientific subjects to the "American Philosophical
Transactions," and to the newspapers, and kept a diary. He was chairman of the Richmond county
committee of safety, but, while he strongly condemned the arbitrary action of Great Britain, he
deplored the action of the Virginia convention in 1776, in declaring independence for fear of
falling into a worse situation under a Republican government. He nevertheless, patriotically cast
in his fortunes with his country. He married three times: (first) Elizabeth, daughter of John
Wormeley, of "Rosegille," (second) Maria, daughter of William Byrd, of "Westover," and (third)
Elizabeth Beale, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Beale, of Richmond county. By his first wife he
was father of Robert Wormeley Carter, a member of the house of burgesses.
Cary, Archibald, son of Henry Cary, of "Ampthill," Chesterfield
county, and Anne Edwards, his wife, was born in Williamsburg, January 24, 1721, was educated at
William and Mary College, and was a member of all the assemblies from 1756 to 1776, and of all
the revolutionary conventions of 1774, 1775 and 1776. He was a member of the committee of nine
appointed by the house of burgesses in November, 1764, to draw up remonstrances against the Stamp
Act proposed by Lord Grenville, but with Pendleton, Bland, Wythe, Harrison and other leading
patriots voted in May, 1765, against the resolutions of Patrick Henry, deeming them premature and
unfair to the British government. In 1773 he was a member of the committee of correspondence. In
the convention of May, 1776, he had the honor to be chairman of the committee of the whole which
reported, on the 15th of month, the celebrated instructions to the Virginia delegates in the
Continental Congress for independence. He was first speaker of the senate in 1776 and remained
its presiding officer till his death, February 26, 1787. He married Mary Randolph, daughter of
Richard Randolph, of "Curls," in Henrico county. One of his daughters, Jane, married Thomas Mann
Randolph.
Cary, Richard, son of Miles Cary and Hannah Armistead, his wife,
was born in Warwick county, Virginia, about 1739, was clerk of Warwick county, in 1764, member of
the county committee of safety, 1774-1776, of the convention of May 6, 1776 appointed a judge of
the admiralty court, December 17, 1776, and of the general court, December 24, 1778. He married
Mary Cole, and died in Warwick county, November 3, 1789. He was father of Richard Cary, who was a
member of the house of delegates in 1787-1800, and member of the convention of 1788.
Curle, William Roscow Wilson, son of Wilson Curle, of Hampton, and
Priscilla Meade, his wife, was chairman of the Elizabeth City county committee of safety in 1774,
and represented Norfolk borough in the convention of May, 1776. He was one of the committee of
thirty-one which was appointed May 15, 1776, to draft a declaration of rights and state
constitution. In 1778 he was appointed a judge of admiralty. He married (first) Euphan Wallace,
daughter of Captain James Wallace, and (second) Mary Kello. He was descendant from Pasco Curle,
gentleman, who came from the parish of St. Michael in Lewis, county Sussex, England, to Elizabeth
City county, Virginia, of which he was a justice in 1688.
Dandridge, Bartholomew, (q. v., i-220).
Digges, Dudley, third son of Colonel Cole Digges, Esq., of the
council, and Elizabeth Power, his wife, was born in 1718, was educated, it is believed, at
William and Mary College, practiced law, and was a member of the house of burgesses from York
county from 1752-1776. He was a member of all the revolutionary conventions, and a member of the
committee of correspondence in 1773, and of the committee of safety for the colony in 1775. He
was appointed in 1749, colonel of horse and foot for York, and receiver of military fines. During
the revolution he was state examiner of claims, and for many years after a member of the board of
the Eastern State Hospital, of which board he was president at the time of his death in
Williamsburg, June 3, 1790. He married Martha Armistead, and left issue.
Fitzhugh, William, son of Henry Fitzhugh, of "Eagle's Nest," King
George county, and Lucy Carter, his wife, daughter of Hon. Robert Carter, of "Corotoman,"
Lancaster county, was born August 24, 1741. He pursued classical studies under private tutors,
and resided at "Chatham," near Fredericksburg. He was a member of the house of burgesses from
King George county in the assemblies of 1772-1774 and 1775, and of the conventions of March, July
and December, 1775, and May, 1776; member of the county committee fo safety, 1774-1775, of the
Continental Congress, 1779-1780, and of the house of delegates 1780-1787. He was a great patron
of the turf, and had a very large estate. he spent the latter years of his life at "Ravensworth,"
Fairfax county, where he died July 6, 1809. He married Ann, daughter of Peter Randolph, of
"Chatsworth," Henrico county.
Fleming, William, son of John and Mary (Bolling) Fleming, of
Cumberland county, was born July 6, 1736, was educated at William and Mary College, and practiced
law. He was a member of the house of burgesses for Cumberland in 1772-1775, and of the
revolutionary conventions of 1775 and 1776, and in the last served on the committee of
independence. He afterwards served in the house of delegates, and in 1788 he was made a judge of
the general court, and by virtue of his office was a member of the first supreme court of
appeals. In 1789, when the new court was organized to consist of five judges, he was elected one
of them, a position he held during the remainder of his life. In 1804, when the court was engaged
in the celebrated glebe case, Judge Fleming refused to preside, as he was personally interested.
He was a man of excellent judgment, sterling integrity, and conscientious convictions. His
decisions were broad and designed to do full justice to the contestants, without favor or
partiality. In 1809 he became president of the court. He married, October 5, 1766, Elizabeth,
daughter of Colonel John Champe, and died February 15, 1824, leaving several daughters.
Gilmer, George, was a son of George Gilmer, a graduate of the
University of Edinburgh, who migrated to Virginia early in the eighteenth century and settled in
Williamsburg, where he successfully combined the vocations of physician, surgeon and druggist for
fifty years. His mother was Mary Peachey Walker, sister of Dr. Thomas Walker, the distinguished
explorer. George Gilmer, the son, went to William and Mary College and afterwards studied
medicine at the University of Edinburgh, and after graduating, practiced his profession first in
Williamsburg, and afterwards in Albemarle county, to which he removed. He was lieutenant of an
independent company in 1775, and served in the convention of May 6,l 1776, as alternate to Thomas
Jefferson, who had been elected to Congress. In this body he was a member of the famous committee
appointed May 15, to prepare a declaration of rights and state constitution. He married his
cousin, Lucy Walker, daughter of Thomas Walker, and was father of Francis Walker Gilmer, an
accomplished scholar and write, and grandfather of Hon. Thomas Walker Gilmer, governor and
secretary of the navy. He died at "Pen Parke," Albemarle county, in 1795.
Grayson, William, was born in Prince William county, Virginia, in
1736, son of Benjamin and Susannah (Monroe) Grayson. His father emigrated from Scotland to
Dumfries, Prince William county, Virginia, and his mother was an aunt of President James Monroe.
He was graduated from the College of Philadelphia, and studied law at the Temple, London; and
began practice in Virginia. On November 11, 1774, a company formed to Prince William county,
called the Independent Company of Cadets chose William Grayson for captain, and adopted as their
motto Aut liber aut nullus. On August 24, 1776, he was appointed aide-de-camp to General
Washington; and January 1, 1777, became colonel of Grayson's Additional Continental Regiment,
organized by him. His brother, Rev. Spence Grayson, was chaplain. Colonel Grayson distinguished
himself at the battle of Monmouth, when he commanded his regiment in the advanced corps,
displaying great valor. During 1780-81 he was commissioner on the board of war; and at Valley
Forge he was appointed a commissioner to treat with Sir William Howe respecting prisoners. At the
close of the war he was elected a member of the Continental congress in 1784, serving three years
with distinguished ability. In 1788 he was sent to the Virginia convention called to consider the
constitution of the United States; and with Patrick Henry powerfully opposed the instrument, and
in a letter shortly after declared that the South was destined to become the "milch cow of the
Union." He was chosen a senator to the first Congress, which met March 4, 1789, took his seat May
21st and August 7th was granted leave of absence in order to recuperate his health, but died at
Dumfries, Virginia, March 12, 1790. He was regarded as a man of the first order of talent, and
was one of the leaders of Congress.
Griffin, Cyrus, son of Colonel Leroy Griffin, of Lancaster county,
and Mary Anne Bertrand, his wife, was born about 1748, was educated in England, where he met and
subsequently married Lady Christina, the daughter of John Stuart, sixth earl of Traquair in
Scotland. He studied law in the Temple, and on his return to America was a member of Congress,
1778-1781, and elected by that body president of the supreme court of admiralty; member of
Congress again in 1787-88, and president of Congress, and was United States district judge for
Virginia, 1789 to his death, December 14, 1810, when he was succeeded by John Tyler. In politics
he was a Federalist.
Hardy, Samuel, son of Richard Hardy, and descended from George
Hardy, who died in 1694, was born in Isle of Wight county, Virginia, was a student at William and
Mary College in 1778-1780, where he studied law under Chancellor George Wythe. He was a member of
the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity, and as a means of establishing new bonds between the North and
South obtained from the society charters for branches at Harvard and Yale. He was a member of the
house of delegates in 1781, and shortly after was elected a member of the executive council. In
1783 was elected to the Continental Congress, and served till his death, October 17, 1785, and
was buried I New York. He was a man of much ability, and his early death was the occasion of
great regret. Congress attended his funeral in a body, and the bill of expenses was discharged by
the Virginia legislature.
Harrison, Benjamin, son of Benjamin and Anne (Carter) Harrison, was
born at Berkeley, on James river, in Charles City county, Virginia, in 1726, and was a student at
William and Mary College, which he left on account of a misunderstanding with a professor. He
represented Charles City county in the house of burgesses from 1749 to 1775, and was one of the
leading members. He served on the committee, in December, 1764, which drew up the address to the
King, and the remonstrances to the two houses of parliament against the proposed Stamp Act, but,
in 1765, he opposed the Stamp Act resolutions of Patrick Henry as untimely and impolitic. He sat
in the first Continental Congress, 1774, and was a member till 1777. He was a member of the
committee which framed the militia system, in operation during the revolutionary war. he was
chairman of the committee which conducted the foreign intercourse of the united colonies, and was
at the head of the board of war from June, 1776, until his retirement from Congress. Sent to
Maryland, he fitted out a fleet of small vessels and stopped depredations on the coast, and was
chairman of the committee for fortification of ports and protection of privateers. He presided
over the debates in Congress upon the Declaration of Independence, and was one of the signers.
From May, 1778, to November 1781, he was speaker of the house of delegates of Virginia, when that
body was driven from place to place. He was governor from November, 1781, to November 1784 and
being ineligible for re-election, returned to the assembly and was re-elected speaker November
24, 1785. In 1788 he was a member of the state convention called to consider the Federal
constitution, and opposed its ratification. In 1790 he declined a re-nomination for governor. He
died April 24, 1791, the day after his unanimous election to the legislature. He married
Elizabeth, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Churchill) Bassett. His eldest son, Benjamin, was
paymaster-general of the southern department during the revolution, and his youngest son, William
Henry, was ninth president of the United States.
Harrison, Carter Henry, son of Benjamin Harrison, of "Berkeley,"
and brother of Benjamin Harrison, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born about
1727, attended William and Mary College, resided at Clifton, Cumberland county; was chairman of
the county committee of safety, and on April 22, 1776, drafted and submitted to the people
assembled at Cumberland Court House, the first explicit instructions in favor of independence
adopted by a public meeting in any of the colonies. He was later a member of the house of
delegates under the new constitution of Virginia. He married Susannah, daughter of Isham
Randolph, of Dungenness. He was ancestor of Carter Henry Harrison, mayor of Chicago in 1893. He
died in 1793-94.