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VIII — PROMINENT PERSONS

[Page 135]
      Richardson, Richard, was born in New Kent county, Virginia, in 1704, son of Charles Richardson. He was a land surveyor, emigrating to Sumter District, South Carolina, in 1725, where he conducted a plantation, commanded the colonial militia in the district, and was elected a member of the council of safety in 1775. He was married (first) to Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Cantey, and (second) to Dorothy, daughter of James and Margaret Sinkler. Upon the revolt among the loyalists of the state he used the militia in restoring order, and for his services received the thanks of the provisional congress and a commission as brigadier-general. He was a delegate to the provincial congress that framed the constitution of South Carolina in 1776, and while defending the city of Charleston against the British under Clinton in 1780, was taken prisoner, and sent to St. Augustine where he withstood the alluring promises of Cornwallis, conditioned on espousing the cause of the Royalists. He was held by the British a prisoner of war a few months, when broken in health, he was sent to his home to die. Colonel Tarleton, when on a raid through Carolina in 1781, burned his house and opened his grave to be assured of the patriot's death. His son, James B. Richardson, was governor of South Carolina, 1802-04. Richard Richardson died on his plantation, near Salisbury, South Carolina, in September, 1780.

[Page 135]
      Hawkins, Philemon, born in Gloucester county, Virginia, September 28, 1717; served in a cavalry troop at the battle of Alamance, May 16, 1771, as aid to Governor Tryon; in the same year was a member of the general assembly, and represented Bute and Granville counties for thirteen years; he raised the first volunteer company in Bute county for the revolutionary army, and was elected its colonel in 1776; was a member of the convention that ratified the national constitution, was the last surviving signer of the constitution of North Carolina, and was frequently a member of the executive council; died in Warren county, North Carolina, in 1801, at the advanced age of eighty-four years.

[Pages 135-136]
      Harris, Samuel, born in Hanover county, Virginia, January 12, 1724; during his early manhood and in middle life he occupied many public offices namely: Church warden, burgess for the county, sheriff, justice of the peace, colonel of militia, and commissary, I all of which he acquitted himself creditably; while riding through the country in full military dress, he came upon a camp meeting in the woods; two itinerant Baptist clergymen were haranguing the assemblage, and, on seeing Colonel Harris, at once directed their discourse to him; so greatly was he impressed with their arguments that he was baptized, and became an exhorter among the poor white settlers; in 1770 he was ordained, and the Baptist Association to which he belonged invested him with the office of "apostle;" he relinquished his large property, lived with extreme frugality, and suffered considerable persecution from the Established Church, of which he had formerly been a member; he exercised a great influence over the masses, and was distinguished as an exhorter; he died, probably in Hanover county, Virginia, in 1794 (q. v., William Samuel Harris, vol. I, p. 253).

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      Warden, John, native of Scotland; eminent practitioner in Virginia courts of law from the time of the revolution to his death, about 1800.

[Page 136]
      Cocke, Hartwell, belonged to the famous Cocke family, of Henrico and Surry counties; he was a graduate of William and Mary College, and an original member of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity; Richard Cocke, of "Mt. Pleasant," Surry county, married Elizabeth Hartwell, a great-niece of Hon. Henry Hartwell; his will was proved in 1777. He had Hartwell Cocke, who married Anne Ruffin, and had, with others, John Hartwell Cocke, born November 5, 1749, died February 9, 1791; and Hartwell Cocke. John Hartwell Cocke was frequently a member of the legislature, and was in the convention of 1788. Grigsby errs in confusing him with his brother, Hartwell, who removed to Southampton county and was captain of militia. John Hartwell Cocke was the father of Gen. John Hartwell Cocke, of Bremo, the father of Philip St. George Cocke.

[Page 136]
      Stephen, Adam, was born in Virginia about 1730. He joined the Ohio expedition with a company in 1754, was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and in the absence of Washington commanded the forces at Winchester, whence he set out in 1756 with an expedition against the Creeks for the relief of the colonists of South Carolina. He had charge of the frontier defences of Virginia in 1783, performed important services in bringing to a termination the French and Indian wars, and at the beginning of the revolution was given command of a regiment. He was made brigadier-general, September 4, 1776, fought at Trenton, and on February 19, 1777, was promoted to major-general. He led an attacking party at the Brandywine. At Germantown, in a fog, his division became involved in a combat with the troops of Gen. Anthony Wayne. He was held responsible for the blunder, was accused of intoxication, and was dismissed from the service. He was a member of the convention of 1778, and supported the constitution in an able speech. He died at his farm in Berkeley county in November, 1791.

[Pages 136-137]
      Crawford, William, was born in Berkeley county, Virginia, in 1732, died in Wyandot county, Ohio, June 11, 1782. He was a surveyor by occupation, serving under Washington. At the outbreak of the French and Indian war he became an ensign in the Virginia riflemen, and was with Gen. Braddock in the expedition against Fort Duquesne. He remained in the service until 1761, and on recommendation of Washington was promoted captain. He again saw service during the Pontiac war, from 1763 till 1764, and in 1767 settled in Western Pennsylvania, purchasing land, and later became a justice of the peace. Early after the beginning of the revolutionary war he raised a company of Virginians and joined Washington's army. He was made lieutenant-colonel of the Fifth Virginia Regiment, in 1776; later became colonel, resigning from the army in 1781. He participated in the battle of Long Island, in the subsequent retreat across New Jersey and over the Delaware, and in the battles of Trenton and Princeton, and afterward was engaged around Philadelphia. In 1778 he was assigned to frontier duty and for years following was occupied in suppressing the Indian attacks on the settlers. After his resignation he retired to his farm, hoping to spend the remainder of his days with his family, after having given nearly twenty-five years of his life to the service of his country; but in May, 1782, at the urgent request of Gens. Washington and William Irvine, he reluctantly accepted the command of an expedition against the Wyandot and Delaware Indians on the banks of the Muskingum. The Indians were discovered on June 4, and an engagement ensued in which Crawford's troops were surrounded in a grove called Battle Island by a force much larger than his own. The fight lasted two days, when finding themselves hemmed in, they decided to cut their way out. In the retreat that followed the soldiers were separated, and col. Crawford fell into the hands of the Indians. After several days of cruel experience, during which he was subjected to horrible torture, he was burned to death. The story is told by N. N. Hill, Jr., in the "Magazine of Western History" for May, 1885, under the title of "Crawford's Campaign."

[Page 137]
      Mathews, George, born in Augusta county, Virginia, in 1739, son of John Mathews, a native of Ireland, from whence he emigrated to this country in 1737; at the age of eighteen years, in 1757, he commanded a volunteer company against the Indians, and he also participated in the battle of Point Pleasant, October 10, 1774; at the out break of the Ninth Virginia Regiment, was actively engaged in the battle of Brandy wine and at Germantown, was wounded in action, was confined on the prison ship New Jersey until December, 1771, when he was exchanged, and he then joined Gen. Greene's army as colonel of the Third Virginia Regiment; in 1785 he removed to the state of Georgia, locating at Goose Pond, Oglethorpe county; from 1789 to 1791 was a representative from Georgia in the first congress, and from 1793 to 1796 was governor of Georgia, and during his term of office the famous Yazoo act was passed and approved by him, which resulted in his political downfall, he losing the nomination, by President Adams, for governor of Mississippi territory, on that account; and in 1811 President Madison appointed him United States commissioner to negotiate for the annexation of Florida, but the following year the President disavowed the treaty, which act so incensed Gov. Mathews that it is said he started fr Washington to chastise President Madison, but on his way was taken ill at Augusta, Georgia, where his death occurred, August 30, 1812.

[Page 137]
      Hubard, William, born in York county, Virginia, son of James Hubard, was graduated at William and Mary College, 1760, ordained deacon by the bishop of London, 1773, and priest, 1776; was in charge of Warwick parish, Virginia, from 1773 to 1776, and in the latter year became recotr of St. Luke's Church, Newport parish, Isle of Wight county, Virginia, where he remained until his death; this church was erected in 1632, and it was often called "Old Smithfield /church: or the "Old Brick Church;" Mr. Hubard was a leader in the community, and served many years as a magistrate; died near Smithfield, Virginia, in 1802.

[Page 138]
      Hammond, LeRoy, born in Richmond county, Virginia, about 1740; was reared and educated in his native state; married Mary, daughter of John Tyler, of Essex county; removed to Georgia, in 1765, and thence to South Carolina, where he engaged in the tobacco business, being a dealer for many years, achieving success therein; during the early period of the revolutionary war, he was commissioned a colonel, served in the "Snow" campaign, and in the campaign against the Cherokees, in 1776, in which he displayed great bravery, and subsequently his services were in demand as Indian agent, being employed by both congress and the state of South Carolina; in 1779 he took the field with his regiment and played an important part in the battle of Stono Ferry, and after the fall of Charleston he adopted a desultory mode of warfare, and was constantly engaged in fighting the Loyalists, British and Indians; in 1781 he was at the siege of Augusta, afterward at that of Ninety-Six, serving under Gen. Greene, and later, under Gen. Pickens; after the battle of Eutaw he was active in guerilla warfare; Col. Hammond died about the year 1800.

[Page 138]
      Lynch, Charles, born in Virginia, son of Charles Lynch, a native of Ireland, from whence he came to this country in boyhood, later settling on a large portion of land situated on the James river, near the Peaks of Otter; Charles Jr. served as colonel of a regiment of riflemen in the revolutionary war, and his services at Guilford, North Carolina, were conspicuous for gallantry; he is said to have originated and enacted the celebrated code called "Lynch Law" during the revolution, in order to punish a band of lawless tories and desperadoes about Lynchburg, which place was founded by his brother John; Col. Lynch, who was a staunch Whit, organized and led a party of patriots and scouted the country for the desperadoes, and when taken gave them a summary trial at which he sat as judge, empaneled a jury and executed punishment; he died near Staunton, Virginia, about 1785.

[Pages 138-139]
      Logan, Benjamin, born in Augusta county, Virginia, in 1743, son of David Logan, a native of Ireland, who emigrated to this country, settled in Pennsylvania, there married, and later located in Augusta county, Virginia, where he died in 1757; upon attaining his majority. Benjamin Logan removed to the Holston river, where he purchased lands; he served in the wars against the Indians, 1764; served in Dunmore's Indian war, 1774; joined Boone's party of settlers en route to Kentucky in 1775 and left the party and settled in what is now Lincoln county, Kentucky, where with the help of his brother John he built Fort Logan and removed his family thither the following year, 1776, but settled them for a time at Harrod's Fort, where they would be less exposed to Indian attacks; in 1777 his family joined him at Logan's Fort, he having been reinforced by a number of white men; on May 20, 1777, the fort was besieged by a hundred Indians, the siege continuing for weeks, until the garrison had about exhausted their ammunition and provisions, when Logan, attended by two companions, left the fort under cover of the night, and made a rapid journey of one hundred and fifty miles to the Holston settlement, where he procured powder and lead, and hastily returned, leaving his companions to follow with a relief party under Col. John Bowman, who dispersed the savages; in July, 1779, he was second in command of over three hundred men under Col. Bowman in an expedition against the Indian settlement of Chillicothe, and in the summer of 1788 he again conducted an expedition against the Northwestern tribes; he was a delegate to the convention of 1792 that framed the first constitution of Kentucky, and to the second constitutional convention of 1799; was also a representative in the Kentucky legislature for several years; Logan county, Kentucky, formed in 1792, was named in his honor; he married Ann, daughter of William Montgomery; he died in Shelby county, Kentucky, December 11, 1802.

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      Taylor, Richard, father of President Taylor, was born in eastern Virginia, March 22, 1744; a descendant of James Taylor, who came from England in 1682, and settled in Eastern Virginia. Richard's love of adventure carried him to the unexplored country west of the Alleghenies, before he reached his majority and he crossed Kentucky to the Mississippi valley, thence to Natchez, a trading post, and from there northward through the trackless forest afoot and alone back to his father's home in Virginia. He commanded a Virginia regiment in the revolution, and was a field officer on Washington's personal force. He was married, August 20, 1779, to Sarah Strother, then nineteen, and settled on a plantation near Orange Court House. They had three children, Zachary being less than one year old when they crossed the mountains into Kentucky and settled on the Beargrass Creek at the place known afterward as Springfield, six miles from the present site of Louisville, a pointed selected by the elder brother, Hancock (a surveyor of wild lands), who had preceded the family to the new territory. President Washington made Colonel Taylor collector of the port of Louisville, then a port of entry, Louisiana being foreign territory. He was a delegate to the state constitutional convention, a presidential district elector on the Madison ticket in 1813; elector-at-large on the Henry Clay ticket in 1825. Col. Dick Taylor died at "Springfield," Kentucky, 1826 .

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      Sevier, John, was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, September 23, 1745, son of Valentine Sevier (originally Xavier), who came from London in 1740. He attended the Fredericksburg (Virginia) Academy, and married Catherine Sherrill. He founded Newmarket village, in the Shenandoah valley; later he removed to the Watauga country, and served in Lord Dunmore's war against the Indians. He rose to high civil and military positions in the Watauga country, and fought the Indians relentlessly. During the revolution he commanded a regiment at Boyd's Creek and King's Mountain, saving the day in the latter engagement. Afterwards, he became governor of the new state of Franklin, and when that scheme was abandoned he was imprisoned by the North carolina authorities, rescued, and took the oath of allegiance to the United States government. He was subsequently a congressman from North Carolina, governor of Tennessee, and a congressman from that state. A county in Tennessee bears his name, and a monument to his memory stands in Nashville. He died September 24, 1815, near Decatur, Alabama.

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      Grymes, John Randolph, born in Virginia, about 1746, son of Philip Grymes and Mary, his wife, daughter of Sir John Randolph; he joined the Royal army under Lord Dunmore at the head of a troop of horse that he had himself raised, in 1776, and in the same year he was expelled from his estate, and all his negroes, cattle and personal property fell into the hands of the patriots; in 1777 he joined the rangers, a battalion of horse, and at the close of the following year resigned and went to England, where he was agent for prosecuting the claims of the Loyalists in Virginia; when the invasion of Napoleon was apprehended the Loyalist Americans in London offered, with the King's approval, to form themselves into a company, and Mr. Grymes was appointed ensign; later he returned to the United States, settled in Orange county, Virginia, and became a wealthy slave-holder and planter; he married, in London, England, his cousin, the daughter of John Randolph, last royal attorney-general of Virginia, and niece of Peyton Randolph, president of the continental congress; Mr. Grymes died in Virginia in the year 1820.

[Page 140]
      Harrod, James, born in Virginia in 1746; reared and educated in his native state, emigrated to Kentucky in 1774, and built the first log cabin on the present site of Harrodsburg; he was successful agriculturist, an expert with the rifle, and a brave and intrepid soldier, ranking as one of the leaders in military affairs, distinguishing himself at the battle of Point Pleasant in 1774; subsequently he represented Harrodsburg (which was named in his honor) in the Transylvania assembly; he was in the habit of making solitary excursions into the forest, and from one of these trips, which was undertaken about the year 1825, when he was about eighty years of age, he never returned, nor was any trace of him ever discovered.

[Pages 140-141]
      Muhlenberg, John Peter Gabriel, born in Trappe, Pennsylvania, in 1747, son of Rev Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, founder of the Lutheran church in America; with his younger brothers, Frederick and Henry, he was sent to Germany to be educated for the ministry; he became involved in a difficulty with a tutor, whose rebuke he revenged with a blow; foreseeing expulsion, he enlisted in a dragoon regiment, from which he was soon discharged through the intervention of friends; returning to America, he engaged in theological studies under his father, was ordained a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1768, and was made assistant rector of churches in New Germantown and Bedminster, New Jersey; while there he married Anne Barbara Meyer; in 1772 he was called to New Woodstock, Virginia, where many Germans were settled; in order to enforce the payment of tithes, it was necessary that he should receive Episcopal ordination, under which he would come under the provisions of the Virginia law, although not a member of the established Church; he went to London, England, h=where he was ordained, and came to his new charge in Virginia; he was soon on terms of personal intimacy with Washington and Henry, and he was chairman of the county committee of safety of Frederick county in 1774, and sat in the Virginia conventions of March 20 and December 1, 1775; the same year he was elected colonel of the Eighth Virginia Regiment; his last sermon ended with the words, "There is a time for all things — a time to preach, and a time to pray, but there is also a time to fight, and that time has now come;" then pronouncing the benediction, he pulled off his gown, and stood wearing f full military uniform; going to the door, he ordered the drums to beat, and assembled his men; marching to the relief of Charleston South Carolina, his regiment, known as the "German regiment," gained a high reputation for discipline and courage; he took part in the battle of Sullivan's Island, shared in the southern campaign, and was made brigadier-general; he was engaged at Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Stony Point and Yorktown, where he commanded the First Light Infantry Brigade, and he was promoted to major-general at the end of the war, and before the army was disbanded; on returning to civil pursuits, he took up his residence in Philadelphia; was elected a member of the Pennsylvania council; in 1785 was vice-president of the state under Franklin; was three times elected to congress, and in 1801 was elected United States senator, but resigned to accept appointment by President Jefferson as revenue supervisor for Pennsylvania; in 1803 he was made collector of the port of Philadelphia; he died October 1, 1807; his statue appears in the capitol in Washington City.

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      Jones, John Paul, born in Kirkbean, Scotland, July 6, 1747; at the age of twelve he went to sea, and while on his first voyage visited his brother William in Fredericksburg, Virginia; he followed the sea, and in 1773 came to Virginia to settle the estate of his brother, who had died the previous year; he resided in Fredericksburg about two years, and during this time (December 22, 1775) received his appointment as lieutenant in the navy from from the continental congress, as first lieutenant of the "Alfred," on board which ship, before Philadelphia, he "hoisted with his own hands the flag of freedom the first time it was displayed;" as captain of the "Ranger," in Quiberon Bay, February 14, 1778, he claimed and obtained from Monsieur La Motte Picquet the first salute the flag of the new republic received from a foreign power; his daring exploits at sea are matters of familiar knowledge; he continued ot serve unti lthe independence of his adopted country was acknowledged, and peace was restored, and at the time of his death (July 1792) he was the senior officer in the United States navy; in 1838, Janette Tayulor, of Gosport (Portsmouth), Virginia, sister of John Paul Jones, and other heirs, memorialized the governor and council of the state, asking a land bounty allowance for the services of their illustrious kinsman; on December 21 of the same year, as shown by the records of the Virginia state land office, they were allowed 3,985 acres, as being the amount due for the services of John Paul Jones "as a captain in the continental navy, equal in rank to a brigadier-general in the continental line, for a service of seven years and ten months and eleven days;" in 1908 the remains of John Paul Jones were brought back from France for final interment in the United States.

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      Hickman, William, born in King and Queen county, Virginia, February 4, 1747; he was educated as an Episcopalian, but united with the Baptist church in 1773, was licensed to preach three years later, after visiting Kentucky in the early part of 1776, where he preached the first sermon delivered in the new settlement; in 1784 he settled in Fayette county, Kentucky, and founded many churches in that state; his death occurred in the state of Kentucky in the year 1830.

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      Massie, Thomas, son of William Massie and Martha Macon, his wife, was born August 22, 1747, attended the grammar school of William and Mary College, 1759-1760; a captain in the revolution, 1775-1778, promoted major in the northern campaign, 1778-1779; aide-de-camp to General Nelson winter of 1780-1781 to the fall of Yorktown, in 1808 one of the first magistrates of Nelson county, 1808. He married about 1780, Sarah cocke, and died at "Level Green," his seat in Nelson county, Virginia, February 2, 1834.

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      Madison, James, first bishop of Virginia and fourth in succession in the American episcopate, was born near Port Republic, Virginia, August 27, 1749, son of John and Agatha (Strother) Madison, and a descendant of John Madison, a patentee of land in Gloucester county, Virginia, in 1653. Bishop Madison obtained his early education in an academy in Maryland, and in 1768 entered the College of William and Mary; pursued a course of law study under the guidance of George Wythe, was admitted to the bar in 1770, but shortly afterward returned to his alma mater, and on July 29, 1772, received the gold medal for proficiency in classical learning; he pursued theological studies at the college, in the meantime serving as instructor in penmanship, and in May, 1773, was appointed professor of mathematics; the board of visitors of the college furnished him with fifty pounds to pay his expenses to London, England, where he received orders as deacon, September 29, and as priest, Oct 1, 1775; returned to Virginia, in 1775, accepted the chair of natural philosophy in William and Mary College, and two years later, when the board of visitors removed President Camm, he was elected president of the college and served in that capacity until his death in 1812; under his administration the chairs of law and medicine were created and the college assumed the dignity of a university of which George Washington was made chancellor in 1788; the elective system of study was adopted, the study of municipal law was introduced, President Madison being the first college president in America to introduce that; at the close of the revolution he was president of the first convention of the Episcopal church in Virginia, May 1, 1785; in 1790 was elected the first bishop of the American church in Virginia, becoming the fourth in succession in this country; was consecrated in the chapel of Lambeth Palace, London, England, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, September 19, 1790; he continued to perform the duties as president of the college in addition to his oversight of the churches of his diocese for twenty-two years; he received the honorary degree of D. D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1785, and from the College of William and Mary in 1796; was the author of "Eulogy on Washington" (1800); papers in Barton's Journal, a Map of Virginia; and several sermons for special occasions; married, in 1779, Sarah Tate, granddaughter of Secretary William Cocke; Mrs. Madison died August 20, 1815, having survived her husband more than three years, his death occurring in Williamsburg, Virginia, March 6, 1812.

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      Garrard, James, was born in Stafford county, Virginia, January 14, 1749; son of Col. William Garrard, who died in 1786; died in Bourbon county, Kentucky, January 9, 1822. While engaged as a militia officer in the revolutionary war he was called from the army to a seat in the Virginia legislature. Here he was a zealous advocate of the bill for the establishment of religious liberty. Having removed with the early settlers to Kentucky, in 1783, and settled on Stoney river, near Paris, he became there a political leader, and was a member of the convention which framed the first constitution of the state. Here he was ordained to the Baptist ministry. In 1791, pending the convention just named, he was chairman of a committee that reported to the Elkhorn Baptist Association a memorial and remonstrance in favor of excluding slaver from the commonwealth by constitutional enactment. He was elected governor in 1796 and re-elected in 1800, serving eight years.

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      Jones, Joseph, born at "Cedar Grove," Petersburg, Virginia, August 23, 1749 son of Thomas Jones, grandson of Abraham Jones, and great-grandson of Maj. Peter Jones, who married a daughter of Maj. Gen. Abraham Wood (q. v., vol. i, 122). Joseph Jones, after completing his preparatory studies, devoted his attention to military affairs, was an earnest patriot in the revolutionary war, an officer in the Virginia militia, holding the rank of colonel, appointed October 25, 1784; brigadier-general, December 11, 1793, and major-general, December 24, 1802; subsequently was appointed collector of customs for Petersburg, Virginia, in which capacity he served until his decease; married (first) Nancy, daughter of Col. William Call, (second) Jane, daughter of Roger Atkinson; Gen. Jones died on his estate, Cedar Grove, Petersburg, Virginia, February 9, 1824. He was ancestor of William Atkinson Jones, of the present congress (q. v.).

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      Doak, Samuel, was born in Augusta county, Virginia, in August, 1749, died in Bethel, North Carolina, December 12, 1830. He was graduated at Princeton in 1775, became tutor in Hampden-Sidney College, studied theology there, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Hanover in 1777. He removed to the Holston settlement (then part of North Carolina, now a part of east Tennessee), and two years later to a settlement on the Little Limestone, in Washington county, where he bought a farm, built a log schoolhouse and a small church, and founded the "Salem Congregation." The school he established at this place was the first that was organized in the valley of the Mississippi. In 1785 it was incorporated by the legislature f North Carolina as Martin Academy, and in 1795 became Washington College. He presided over it from the time of its incorporation till 1818, when he removed to Bethel and opened a private school, which he named Tusculum Academy. Mr. Doak was a member of the convention of 1784 that framed the constitution of the commonwealth of Frankland. The degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by Washington and Greenville college in 1818. His son Samuel was president of Tusculum College, Tennessee, in 1857.

[Pages 143-144]
      Bradford, John, was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, in 1749. He served two years in the war of the revolution, and was later present at the battle of Chillicothe. He removed to Kentucky in 1785, locating in Fayette county, on Cane Run, near Lexington. In 1787, with his brother Fielding, he established the Kentucke Gazette, the first newspaper published west of the Alleghanies, which was issued under that title until 1786 when its name was changed to the Kentucky Gazette. The press and equipment for this enterprise were brought from Philadelphia. In 1786 he became public printer; in 1792 was one of the electors of the senate, and chairman of the town trustees. He was elected to the legislature in 1797, and also to that of 1801. John Bradford was made cashier of the bank, which was the result of the famous act of 1801, incorporating the first life insurance company, in an obscure clause of which were concealed full banking privileges, and assigned his interest in the Gazette to his son. He was at one time chairman of the board of trustees of Transylvania University, and when nearly eighty years of age he was elected to the shrievalty of Fayette county, and held the office until his death, in 1830.

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      Posey, Thomas, born in Fairfax county, Virginia, July 9, 1750. In 1769 he removed to the western frontier of Virginia, and served in Lord Dunmore's Shawnee expedition, and fought in the battle at Point Pleasant. In 1775 was a member of Virginia committee of correspondence; commanded a company in Seventh Virginia Regiment; joined Washington's army in New Jersey in 1777, where his company was transferred to Morgan's riflemen; fought in battles of Bemis Heights and Stillwater; major of Second Virginia Regiment at Monmouth; in 1778 he was transferred to the Seventh Virginia Regiment, and led an expedition against the Indians after the massacre of Wyoming. At Stony Point he received the arms of the British officers. He was at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, October 19, 1781; in 1782 was made lieutenant-colonel, and organized a new regiment which he commanded in Georgia under Wayne, and left the army at the close of the war. In 1793-94 he was a brigadier-general commanding a brigade under Wayne in the Northwest. In the latter year he located in Kentucky, was state senator several terms, and speaker, 1805-06. When war was threatened in 1809 he was commissioned major-general and organized the Kentucky volunteers. Later he removed to Louisiana and became United State Senator to fill a vacancy; was governor of Indiana Territory, 1813-16; defeated for governor when Indiana became a state; from 1816-18 was Indian agent at Shawneetown, Illinois, where he died, March 19, 1818. He married (first) Martha, daughter of Gen. Sampson Matthews, of Augusta county, Virginia; and (second) Mary, daughter of John and Lucy (Thornton) Alexander, and widow of Maj. George Thornton.

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      Porterfield, Charles, was born in Frederick county, Virginia, in 1750, son of William Porterfield, who emigrated from England and settled in Pennsylvania early in the eighteenth century. He enlisted in the first military company organized in 1775 in Frederick county to defend the patriot cause, Daniel Morgan being captain; joined Washington's army at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was with Colonel Arnold in the expedition at Quebec. In the disastrous assault on that city he was taken prisoner inside the fort December 31, 1775, but was exchanged and again joined the army February 3, 1777, serving as captain in Morgan's Rifles, 1777-78. He was made major, July 13, 1778, serving in Woodford's Brigade; was transferred to the Seventh Virginia Regiment, September 14, 1778, and resigned from the service, July 2, 1779. On August 14, 1779, he was appointed by Governor Jefferson lieutenant-colonel of a Virginia state regiment organized largely through his efforts, and proceeded to Charleston, South Carolina, in the spring of 1780. At the battle near Camden, South Carolina, August 16, 1780, where he commanded a part of the advance guard of General Gates' army, he was severely wounded, taken prisoner, and after ten days, having meanwhile received no medical attention, submitted to the amputation of his leg, and was paroled. His death, resulting from the effects of his injury, occurred on the Santee river, South Carolina, in October, 1780.