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[Page 87]
      Grayson, William, (q. v.).

[Page 87]
      Lee, Richard, (q. v.).

[Page 87]
      Walker, John, was born at "Castle Hill," Albemarle county, Virginia, February 13, 1744, son of Dr. Thomas Walker, the explorer (q. v.), and Mildred Thornton, his wife. His mother was daughter of Colonel John and Mildred (Gregory) Thornton, the latter being daughter of Roger and Mildred (Washington) Gregory, sister of General George Washington. He attended William and Mary College (1764), and after graduation settled at "Belvoir," Albemarle county, where he engaged in the occupation of a planter. In 1777 he was commissioned with his father to make special terms with the Indians at Fort Pitt, Pennsylvania, so as to retain their friendship throughout the revolution. During this war he served as an extra aide on the staff of General Washington, with the rank of colonel. The latter wrote to Patrick Henry, February 24, 1777, commending the ability, honor and prudence of Colonel Walker. The governor of Virginia appointed him to the United States senate, where he filled the vacancy made by the death of William Grayson, serving from May 4, 1790, until a successor was regularly elected by the legislature. His seat was thus relinquished to James Monroe. While a senator he voted for the removal of the seat of government to the Potomac river. He married, in 1764, Elizabeth, daughter of Bernard Moore, of "Chelsea," Virginia, and granddaughter of Governor Alexander Spotswood. They had one daughter, Mildred. He died in Orange county, Virginia, December 2, 1809.

[Page 87]
      Monroe, James (q. v.).

[Page 87]
      Tazewell, Henry (q. v.)

[Pages 87-88]
      Mason, Steven Thomson, was born in Stafford county, Virginia, in 1760, son of Thomson Mason, the brother of George Mason, the celebrated author of the Declaration of rights and state constitution. Stevens Thomson Mason was educated at William and Mary College, and on the outbreak of the revolutionary war volunteered, was an aide to General Washington, and was present at the siege of Yorktown. Afterward he became a general of militia. He was a member of the house of delegates of Virginia, and of the state constitutional convention in 1788. He was elected to the United States senate, and served from December 7, 1795, to March 3, 1803. Mason became seriously involved during his senatorial career, in connection with the Jay treaty. This treaty, negotiated by John Jay, was ratified in secret session by the smallest possible constitutional majority. It was forbidden by the senate that the treaty should be published, but Senator Mason did cause to be printed in a Philadelphia newspaper, the "Aurora," at first an abstract of the instrument and afterward a complete copy. This created great excitement, being applauded by the Republicans and attacked by the Federalists. Senator Mason was a warm personal friend of Thomas Jefferson, and his strong political ally. Personally, Senator Mason was also a popular man, esteemed for his integrity and admired for his remarkable ability as an orator. He died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 10, 1903.

[Page 88]
      Nicholas, Wilson Cary (q. v.).

[Page 88]
      Taylor, John, known as "John Taylor of Caroline," was born in Orange county, Virginia, in 1750. His father was James Taylor, who married Ann Pollard — a sister of Sarah Pollard, who married the celebrated Edmund Pendleton, president of the famous convention of May, 1776, that declared for independence. He was of the same distinguished family as General Zachary Taylor, President of the United States. He attended William and Mary College and graduated there in 1770. He studied law, and, setting in Caroline county, began the practice in 1774. He entered the army when the revolutionary war began, and was a colonel of cavalry. He served in the house of delegates from 1779 to 1787, being one of the leading members. About this time he gave up the practice of law and devoted his ample time to politics and agriculture. In 1792 he was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Richard Henry Lee in the United States senate, and was elected to the term that began March 4, 1793, but resigned, May 11, 1794; presidential elector in 1797; he was a close friend of Mr. Jefferson, and, as member of the house of delegates, offered the resolutions of 1798 condemning the alien and sedition laws; appointed to the senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Stevens Thomson Mason, and served from June 4, 1803, until December 7, 1803, when he resigned; again appointed to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of James Pleasants, Jr., and was elected later to serve the regular term for six years beginning December 18, 1822, but died at his estate in Caroline county, August 20, 1824. Mr. Taylor was a prolific political writer, and was the author of "An Inquiry into the Principles and Policy of the Government of the United States," 1814; "Construction Construed and the Constitution Vindicated," 1820; "Tyranny Unmasked," 1822; "New Views of the Constitution of the United States," 1823. He was also a scientific agriculturist, and in 1811 was first president of the Virginia Agricultural Society. His little books, "Arator," being a series of agricultural essays, practical and political, 1818, was one of the first American books on agriculture. Taylor county, Kentucky, was named in his honor.

[Page 88]
      Venable, Abraham B., son of Nathaniel Venable and Elizabeth Woodson, his wife, was born in Prince Edward county, Virginia, November 20, 1758. He was graduated at Princeton College in 1780; studied law and practiced in his native county, and from 1791 to 1799 was a representative in Congress from Virginia, and United States senator from 1803 to 1804, when he resigned and resumed the practice of law in Richmond. He was a friend of Thomas Jefferson; was founder and first president of the Bank of Virginia. He perished in the conflagration of the theatre at Richmond, Virginia, December 26, 1811.

[Page 88]
      Giles, William B. (q. v.).

[Pages 88-89]
      Moore, Andrew, son of David Moore, whose father was of the Scotch-Irish race who emigrated from the North of Ireland and settled in the valley of Virginia, was born at "Cannicello," in Rockbridge county, in 1752. He studied law in Williamsburg under chancellor Wythe, and was admitted to the bar in 1774. He served in the revolutionary army as lieutenant three years and attained the rank of captain. After the war the Virginia legislature made him a brigadier-general of militia, and in 1808 promoted him to major-general. He was a member of the state legislature, 1781-89, and 1799-1800; and in 1788 served in the state convention which ratified the Federal constitution. He was elected to the First Congress, and served 1789-97. He successfully contested the election of Thomas Lewis to the Eighth Congress, and was appointed to the United States senate August 11, 1804, serving by subsequent election until March 3, 1809. In this body he upheld the policy of President Jefferson. He was one of the advocates for removing the seat of government to the Potomac river. The year following his retirement from the senate, he received the appointment of United States marshal for Virginia, and retained that office until his death, near Lexington, April 14, 1821.

[Page 89]
      Brent, Richard, son of Colonel William Brent, of "Richland," Stafford county, who was a justice, burgess, and member of the convention of 1776, was born about 1760; was a representative in Congress, serving from December 7, 1795, to March 3, 1803. He was elected to the United States senate for a term beginning March 4, 1809, and took his seat May 23, serving until his death. In 1811 he was instructed by the legislature to vote against the recharter of the United States Bank, but refused to obey and incurred its censure. He died in Washington, unmarried, December 30, 1814. He was distinguished for his eloquence.

[Page 89]
      Barbour, James (q. v.).

[Pages 89-90]
      Mason, Armistead Thomson, was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, in 1787, son of Stevens Thomson Mason, also a United States senator. His grandfather, Thomson Mason, was born in 1733 and died in 1785. Armistead T. Mason was graduated at the College of William and Mary in 1807, after which he was engaged in farming. He served as colonel of cavalry in the war of 1812, distinguished himself in the defence of Norfolk, and was made brigadier-general of militia. After serving in the legislature he was elected to the United States senate, and served from January 3, 1816, to March 3, 1817, when he resigned to become a candidate for the house of representatives against Charles Fenton Mercer, but was defeated by a few votes. Great personal bitterness was engendered, resulting in several duels. Having called his cousin, William Mason McCarty, a "perjured villain," he was challenged by the latter, who proposed that they should j ump together from the dome of the capitol. This Mason refused, with an intimation that he would accept a challenge sent in a proper form. McCarty posted Mason as a coward, and was challenged for doing so. He declined on the ground that Mason was wanting in courage, and the matter rested until General Jackson appeared on the scene. It was then reopened by Mason, who sent a challenge, and it was ultimately agreed that a duel should take place with muskets, charged with a single ball, at a distance of twelve feet. When in position the muzzles of the muskets nearly touched. At the word, they both fired, and Mason fell dead. This was at Bladensburg, Maryland, February 6, 1819.

[Page 90]
      Eppes, John Wayles, son of Colonel Francis Eppes and Elizabeth Wayles, his wife, daughter of John Wayles, was born in Chesterfield county Virginia, and attained prominence in his profession in Richmond, Virginia. In 1803 he was elected as a Republican to Congress, and served until March 3, 1811, and from May 24, 1813, to March 2, 1815. He was an able supporter of the administration of James Madison. Two years later he became a member of the United States senate, but resigned in 1819 on account of ill health. He retired to his estate in Buckingham county, where the remaining years of his life were spent. He married (first) Maria, daughter of President Thomas Jefferson, and (second) Martha, daughter of Willie Jones, member of Congress from North carolina. His death occurred September 20, 1823.

[Page 90]
      Pleasants, James (q. v.).

[Page 90]
      Tazewell, Littleton Waller (q. v.).

[Pages 90-91]
      Randolph, John, was born at "Cawsons," Prince George county, Virginia, June 2, 1773, son of Richard, of "Curles," and Frances (Bland) Randolph, grandson of Richard Randolph (1691-1748), great-grandson of Colonel William, the immigrant, and Mary (Isham) Randolph, of Turkey Island. William Randolph, the immigrant, came from Warwickshire, England, in 1674. John Randolph was instructed by his mother and stepfather; attended Walker Maury's school in Orange county; the grammar school of the same teacher in Williamsburg; the College of New Jersey, 1787-88; Columbia College, 1788-89; was present in New York, April 30, 1789, at the inauguration of President Washington, and studied law with his second cousin, Edmund Randolph, in Philadelphia, also attending lectures on antomy and physiology. In 1795 he returned to Virginia and made his home at "Bizarre," the family mansion occupied by his brother Richard, and where Richard died in 1796. He thus became the head of the household, but does not appear to have practiced law except to the extent of defending in the Federal courts his rights to the portion of the Randolph estate. He opposed Patrick Henry as a candidate for representative in the Sixth Congress, but was defeated. When Henry died, June 6, 1799, without taking his seat, Randolph was elected and was a representative from Virginia in the Sixth to twelfth Congresses, 1799-1813, serving as chairman of the committee on ways and means and being a leader of the Republicans. He favored the reduction of the army and spoke of the men making it up as "mercenaries and hirelings," which resulted in his being insulted and jostled by two marine officers at the theatre. In a note addressed to the President, asking for protection against such insults, he addressed him as "President of the United States," and signed himself "With respect, your fellow-citizen, John Randolph." President Adams presented the note to the house for its consideration as "a breach of representative privilege." A deadlock resulted, and the question was undecided. Randolph was a powerful orator, and opposed every public wrong, the Yazoo fraud being passed in his absence. He defended Jefferson in the purchase of Louisiana; and advocated an embargo, but soon changed his opinion and voted against the measure. He favored James Monroe as presidential candidate to succeed Mr. Jefferson in 1808, and opposed the war of 1812 and the policy of President Madison, which made an enemy of Monroe, who had been chosen secretary of state. This cost him his reëlection to Congress in 1812, and he retired to "Roanoke," his residence in Charlotte county. He was returning to the Fourteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Congresses, 1815-17 and 1819-25,, and became the founder of a powerful state rights party. He hated slavery, and his duty to his creditors was the only bar to the liberation of the slaves owned by him during his lifetime. He opposed the Missouri compromise as an infringement of the constitution. In December, 1824, he was elected to the United States senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Barbour, and completed his term, March 3, 1827. While in the senate, Clay challenged him for the use of offensive language in a speech, and a duel followed, April 8, 1826, in which neither was hurt. In 1827 he was defeated of reëlection by John Tyler. He was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1829 and, as a reward for his support of Jackson for the presidency in 1828, he was appointed United States minister to Russia in 1830, but resigned in 1831. Though he did not approve of the doctrine of nullification, he condemned Jackson's proclamation against South Carolina in 1832, as subversive of the confederate character of the Union. In 1833 he made preparations for a second visit to Europe for the benefit of his health, but only lived to reach Philadelphia. He was declared of unsound mind when he made his last will, executed in 1832, and a former will made in 1821, liberating his slaves and providing for their colonization, was sustained. He is the author of "Letters to a Young Relative" (1834). Hugh A Garland wrote "Life of John Randolph" (American statesman series, 1882). He died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 24, 1833.

[Page 91]
      Tyler, John (q. v.).

[Pages 91-92]
      Rives, William Cabell, son of Robert Rives, of Sussex county, one of the richest merchants of Virginia, and Margaret Cabell, his wife, daughter of Colonel William Cabell, of "Union Hill," was born in Nelson county, May 4, 1794. He was first schooled under private tutors, entered Hampden-Sidney College in 1807, and was graduated at William and Mary College in 1809. He studied law under the direction of Thomas Jefferson, 1809-11; served in the defence of Virginia as aide-de-camp to General John H. Cooke, 1814-15, and engaged in the practice of law in Nelson county. He represented Nelson county in the Virginia house of delegates, 1817-19, and was married, March 24, 1819, to Judith Page, daughter of the Hon. Francis and Jane Byrd (Page) Walker, of Albemarle county, Virginia. He removed to Albemarle county in 1821; represented that county in the Virginia house of delegates, 1822-23, and was a Republican representative in the Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses, 1823-1829. He was a member of the board of visitors of the University of Virginia, 1828-29 and United States minister to France by appointment of President Jackson, from April 18, 1829, to September 27, 1832, negotiating the indemnity treaty of July 4, 1831. He was elected to the United States senate to fill vacancy caused by resignation of Littleton W. Tazewell, and served from January 4, 1833, until February 22, 1834, when he resigned, having refused to follow the instruction of the Virginia legislature to vote to censure President Jackson for removing government deposits from the Bank of the United States. He was reëlected to the United States senate in place of John Tyler, resigned February 29, 1836, and was returned 1840-45. He joined the Whigs in 1840, but did not approve of the course of Mr. Clay in bringing forward the bank bills in 1841. He was appointed United States minister to France by President Fillmore, serving 1849-53, and in the latter year retired to private life at his residence, "Castle Hill," Albemarle county. He was one of the five commissioners sent from Virginia to the peace congress at Washington, D. C., in February, 1861, and elected chairman of the Virginia delegates chosen at Richmond, April 17, 1861, to represent Virginia in the provisional congress at Montgomery, Alabama, April 29, 1861. He represented his district in the second Confederate congress, February 22, 1864, to February 22, 1865. He was made president of the Virginia Historical Society, 1847, and received the degree of Doctor of laws from the College of William and Mary. He was the author of: "The life and Character of John Hampden" (1845); "Ethics of Christianity" (1855); "The Life and Times of James Madison (3 vols., 1859-69). He died at "Castle Hill," Virginia, April 25, 1868.

[Page 92]
      Leigh, Benjamin Watkins, son of Rev. William Leigh and Martha Watkins, his wife, was born in Chesterfield county, Virginia, June 18, 1781. He graduated at the College of William and Mary in 1802, studying law, and carried on a successful practice at Petersburg, Virginia, until 1813, when he removed to Richmond. He was elected from Petersburg to the Virginia legislature, where in 1811 he presented resolutions asserting the right of the legislature to instruct United States senators elected by it. He was a member of the commission which revised the statutes of the state, and in 1822 served as a commissioner to Kentucky, conferring with Henry Clay in regard to an important land law, known as the "occupying claimants" law, threatening to annul the title which Virginia held upon certain lands lying within the state of Kentucky; but a satisfactory agreement was finally reached by these two representatives. From 1829 to 1841 he served as reporter of the Virginia court of appeals, and was prominent in the state constitutional convention of 1829-30. He was first a Democrat and afterwards a Whig, and March 5, 1834, was elected to the United States senate, where he took the place of William C. Rives, a Democrat, who had refused to obey instructions from the Virginia legislature, and had tendered his resignation. Senator Leigh was reëlected, but being instructed to vote for the celebrated expunging resolutions, refused to obey. In view of his former attitude on the doctrine of instructions, this made him unpopular. A year later he resigned, but he never recovered his former popularity, and from that time his life was spent in retirement. He was compiler of "Reports of the Courts of Appeals and General Court," 1829-1841. The degree of Doctor of Laws was given him by the College of William and Mary in 1837. He died in Richmond, Virginia, February 2, 1849.

[Page 93]
      Parker, Richard Elliott (q. v.).

[Page 93]
      Roane, William Harrison, son of Judge Spencer Roane, of the supreme court of appeals, and Anne Henry, his wife, daughter of Patrick Henry, was born in Hanover county, Virginia, in 1788. In 1804 he entered William and Mary College, and later practiced law. He was twice elected a member of the executive council of his native state, and after serving as a delegate to the general assembly, he was elected a Republican representative in the national house of representatives, and served from December 4, 1815, to March 3, 1817. When the Democratic party was formed in 1828 he united himself with this party, and in 1837 was elected to fill a vacancy in the United States senate, which had been caused by the resignation of Richard E. Parker; he served from September 4, 1837, to March 3, 1841. His death occurred at his residence,"Tree Hill," near Richmond, Virginia, May 11, 1845.

[Page 93]
      Archer, William S. was born in Amelia county, Virginia, March 5, 1789, son of Major John Archer, who in the revolutionary war was aid to General Wayne, and acquitted himself with special distinction at the capture of Stony Point, and grandson of William Archer, of Welsh ancestry, a colonel in the revolutionary army, who died on a British prison ship. He was educated at the College of William and Mary, graduated in 1806, and studied law. He was elected to the state legislature, and served, with the exception of a single year, from 1812, to 1819. In 1820 he became a member from Virginia to the house of representatives, where he remained until 1835, exerting a wide influence, especially as chairman of the committee on foreign affairs, and as a member of the committee on the Missouri compromise. He was a states rights man and supported General Jackson till is proclamation against South Carolina in 1832, when he joined the new Whit party of opposition. In 1841 he was elected to the United States senate, and gave a very reluctant support to Clay's project of a bank. In 1844 he was chairman of the senate committee on foreign relations, and opposed the annexation of Texas. He served until 1847, when he retired to his estate in Amelia county, where he died March 28, 1855.

[Page 93]
      Pennybacker, Isaac Samuels, was born in Shenandoah county, Virginia, September 12, 1807. He was educated at Washington College, Virginia, studied law at the Winchester Law School, and settled at Harrisonburg, Virginia, where he commenced the practice of his profession. In 1837 he was a representative in Congress, and at the expiration of his term became judge of the district court of western Virginia. He declined the office of United States attorney-general, offered him by President Van Buren, and subsequently that of justice of the supreme court of Virginia. He was spoken of for governor, but declined to run. In 1845 he was elected United States senator, but before the expiration of his term he died in Washington, D. C., January 12, 1847.

[Pages 93-94]
      Mason, James Murray, was born on Mason's Island, Fairfax county, West Virginia, November 3, 1798. He was a son of General John Mason, and a grandson of George Mason, the celebrated Virginia patriot of the American revolution, and the close friend of George Washington. James M. Mason graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1818, studied law at William and Mary College, Virginia, and practiced law at Winchester, Virginia. In 1826 he was elected to the state legislature, and was re-elected until 1832. He was a member of the Virginia constitutional convention in 1829, and in 1832 served as a presidential elector on the Jackson ticket, and was elected to Congress as a Jackson Democrat in that year, and declined reëlection at the end of his term, preferring to return to law practice. The Virginia legislature elected him to fill an unexpired term in the United States senate in 1847, and he was reëlected twice. He resigned in 1861 to cast his fortunes with the Confederacy. His fourteen years as senator were stamped with an ability for hard work. He served as chairman of the committee on foreign relations for ten years. He was the author of the fugitive slave law in 1850, and strongly opposed anti-slavery agitation. As soon as he resigned his seat in the United States senate he was elected to the Confederate congress, and was appointed, with John Slidell, commissioner from the Confederate States to England and France. He sailed from Charleston, South Carolina, for Cuba, October 12, 1861, and reached Havana safely. The two commissioners engaged passage on the British mail steamer Trent, and were captured by Captain Charles Wilkes, of the United States navy, as the vessel was passing through the Bahama Channel. They were brought to Boston, and incarcerated in Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, but afterward, on demand of the British government, they were released, January 2, 1862, and proceeded on their mission to Europe, where, until the close of the civil war, they actively pushed the claims of the Confederacy for recognition. Senator Mason spent several years in Canada after the cessation of hostilities, but in 1868 returned to his home in Virginia. He died at Alexandria, Virginia, April 28, 1871.