Preceding pages

Volume Map

Following pages

[Page 165]
      Owen, Goronwy, born in Anglesea, North Wales, January 13, 1722, son of Owen Gronow, a man of some poetic taste. He was attending school near his home, when he was met by the celebrated Lewis Morris, who sent him to Beaumaris, where he proved a most zealous scholar. Later, after the death of his mother, he became one of the masters of a grammar school in Caernarvonshire. Soon afterward, Mr. Morris sent him to Jesus College, Oxford, where he made rapid progress in Greek and Latin, and gave evidence of poetical talent in Welsh to such a degree that he was even then regarded as a rising poet, but the attempt to obtain funds enough for their publication had failed. He was ordained a deacon in the Church of England, and for a few years was a curate and school teacher. In 1757 he was offered by the Bishop of London, through the influence, it is supposed, of the Earl of Powis, the place of master of the grammar school of the College of William and Mary at Williamsburg, Virginia, The salary of £200 sterling was a tempting consideration to a half starved genius, and, with his wife and three children, he took ship for America. As shown by the faculty minutes, Owen qualified as master of the grammar school, April 7, 1758. Of his life at the college, little is known, save that he married Mrs. Clayton, a sister of Thomas Dawson, then president of William and Mary, and that she was his second wife. After two years' service, he resigned; it is said that his "merry habits" necessitated his resignation. He was soon afterward nominated by Governor Francis Fauquier minister of St. Andrew's Parish, in Brunswick county, where he died, and was buried there in 1776. As to his scholarship, Dr. Porteus, Bishop of London, spoke of him as "the most finished writer of Latin since the days of the Roman emperors." His qualifications as a preacher were indifferent. Of his poetic talent, his biographer and countrymen speak in unbounded praise. his ode on "The Last Day of Judgment" (Cywydd Farn Fawr) is said to be unsurpassed by any poem in any language. Editions of his works were published in 1763, in 1817, in 1860, and in 1876. In 1831 his countrymen erected a beautiful tablet to his memory in the Cathedral Church, Bangor, Wales. He left issue, which are numerously represented in the South in the present day. A grandson, William B. Owen, of Nashville, Tennessee, was a colonel in the Mexican war. Another grandson, George W. Owen, of Mobile, Alabama, occupied a seat in congress for several consecutive terms. A great-grandson, Richard B. Owen, also of Mobile, Alabama, was a distinguished lawyer, and served with gallantry in the Confederate army.

[Pages 166-167]
      Gates, Horatio, was born in Malden, Essex, England, in 1728, in the Castle of the Duke of Leeds; little is known of his parentage except rumors that he was the natural son of Sir Robert Walpole, and others that made his father the butler in employ of the Duke. He was trained as a soldier and first saw service under Ferdinand the Prince of Brunswick. He next appears as captain of the King's New York independent company and in 1755, at Halifax as major. He was with Braddock at Fort Duquesne, July 9, 1755, where he was severely wounded and Washington is credited with having saved his life in the retreat. In 1652 he was at the capture of Martinique by Monckton, and after visiting England in 1763 he purchased a plantation in Berkeley county, Virginia. Washington, when in 1775 called upon by congress to select officers for the continental army, named Gates, who was commissioned adjutant-general, with the rank of brigadier-general. In 1776 he accompanied Washington to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was commanding-general of the northern army operating against Crown Point and Ticonderoga. he won the support of the delegates to congress from the New England states, and was given the rank of major-general and superseded not only Gen. John Sullivan, but in August, 1777, Gen. Phillip J. Schuyler. The New England contingent still further pressed their demands by openly suggesting Gates as commander-in-chief. The battle of Saratoga, which resulted in the surrender of Burgoyne to Gates, October 17, 1777, served to magnify his military genius, and congress voted him a gold medal and the thanks of the country and placed him at the head of the board of war. The opportunity thus presented to the friends of Gates was taken advantage of by the delegates of new England, and the cabal against the commander-in-chief was renewed with the object of forcing Washington into retirement and thus making place for Gates. Gen. Thomas Conway and Gen. Thomas Mifflin conspired with Gen. Gates, and their correspondence revealed to Washington by Lord Stirling and obtained by him from Col. James Wilkinson, Gates' chief-of-staff, in a moment of unguarded conviviality, put the commander-in-chief on his guard, and he exposed the whole affair. Gates sought to escape the odium by charging Wilkinson with forgery, whereupon Col. Wilkinson challenged Gen. Gates who first accepted and finally declined the challenge. Gates retired to his estate in Virginia and took no part in the operations of the army until June, 1780, when after the capture of Gen. Lincoln, he was given command of the southern army. His force of 4,000 men was concentrated in North Carolina to oppose Cornwallis, who was rapidly marching northward. On August 16, the armies met at Camden, South Carolina, and Gates was overwhelmed and his army almost annihilated. He was thereupon superseded by Gen. Nathanael Greene, and suspended in December, 1780, from military duty. A court of inquiry acquitted him in 1782 and he was reinstated. He removed to New York City in 1790 after having emancipated his slaves. He was a member of the New York state legislature in 1800. He was, through his marriage with Mary, only child of James Valence of Liverpool, placed in possession of a fortune of $450,000 which Mrs. Gates used during the revolution in advancing the military fortune of her husband by a sumptuous lavishment of hospitality. He received an LL. D. from Harvard in 1779, and was vice-president-general of the Society of the Cincinnati, 1784-86. He died in New York City, April 10, 1806.

[Page 167]
      Sumner, Jethro, was born in Virginia, in 1730. His father, William, an Englishman, emigrated to America in 1690, being one of the first settlers of Suffolk, Virginia. At an early age Jethro Sumner removed to Warren county, North Carolina, where he became a leader in political and military affairs. In 1760 he was appointed paymaster of the provincial troops of North Carolina, and afterward for a considerable period he commanded Fort Cumberland. In April, 1776, he was appointed by the provincial congress colonel of the Third North Carolina Regiment, and until 1779 participated in all the operations of the army under Washington, in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In 1779 he was promoted brigadier-general by the continental congress, and transferred to the southern army under Gen. Gates. He took part in the battle of Camden in 1780, where by his coolness and bravery, he aided greatly in rallying the patriot troops after Gen. de Kalb had fallen. He was then ordered to join Gen. Greene, and fought with splendid valor at the battle of Eutaw Springs in September, 1781. Subsequently, until the cessation of hostilities, he was engaged in the suppression of Tory raids in North Carolina. After the war he resigned and was married to a wealthy widow of Newbern by the name of Heiss. Gen. Sumner died in Warren county, North Carolina, in 1790.

[Page 167]
      Weedon, George, was born in Fredericksburg, about 1730. he was an innkeeper, and an ardent patriot and during the revolutionary war became the lieutenant-colonel of the Third Virginia Regiment, being transferred to the First Virginia Regiment in August, 1776. he was commissioned brigadier-general in 1777, and fought in the battles of the Brandywine and Germantown. He was acting adjutant-general of the United States army from February 20, 1777, to April 19, 1777, when Col. Morgan Connor was appointed to the position. He resigned shortly afterward, but resumed the command of a brigade in 1780, and during the siege of Yorktown was in charge of the Virginia militia. He died in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1790.

[Pages 167-170]
      Lee, Charles, was born in Dernhall, Chesshire, England, in 1731, the youngest son of John and Isabella (Bunbury) Lee. He received a classical education and then devoted himself to a study of the art of war. His father died in 1751, and in the same year he was commissioned lieutenant in the Forty-fourth Regiment of which his father had been colonel. Ordered to Virginia in 1754, the regiment was attached to Braddock's army in Virginia, and after the disastrous defeat of July 9, 1755, marched to Albany and Schenectady, where Lee met Sir William Johnson and was adopted by the Mohawk Indians. he purchased a captain's commission for £900, June 11, 1756; was severely wounded in Abercrombie's assault upon Ticonderoga, July 1, 1758; was present at the capture of Fort Niagara and thence to Crown Point, New York, where he joined Gen. Amherst, and in 1760, took part in the capture of Montreal. He returned to England and was promoted major in the One Hundred and Third Regiment August 10, 1761. After service in Burgoyne's division in Portugal, in 1762, he organized a project for establishing new colonies in America, to be recruited from Germany Switzerland and New England. The British ministry refused to approve the plan, and he went to Poland in 1764, where he was appointed on the staff of the King, and accompanied the Polish embassy to Turkey in 1766. He returned to England in 1766, and unsuccessfully urged his claims to promotion. He accepted a commission as major-general in the Polish army in 1769, and made a campaign against the Turks, after which he publicly derided his superior officers and left the army. He visited Italy in 1770, returned to England, was in France and Switzerland, 1771-72, and on May 25, 1772, he was promoted lieutenant-colonel in the British army and placed on half-pay. Disappointed, he arrived in America, November 10, 1773, made the acquaintance of the revolutionary leaders, was in Philadelphia during the first session of the continental congress, and his expressed knowledge of military science attracted attention. He purchased for £5,000 Virginia currency, and estate in Berkeley county, Virginia, near the estate of Horatio Gates, whose friendship he had gained. He was commissioned second major-general in the continental army in June, 1775. The friends of Lee, notably Thomas Mifflin, earnestly urged his claims for first place against Artemas Ward, and when forced to second place, Lee mercilessly ridiculed the military skill of General Ward. He refused to accept until promised indemnity for any pecuniary loss he might suffer by accepting a commission, and congress assented. On July 22 he resigned his commission and half-pay in the British army and joined Washington in his journey to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was placed in command of the left wing of the army, with headquarters at Winter Hill. When Sir Henry Clinton left Boston on his southern expedition, Gen. Lee was sent to Newport, Rhode Island, and in January, 1776, proceeded to New York, where he directed the fortifying of the harbor. When the news of the death of Montgomery at Quebec reached Philadelphia, Gen. Lee was made commander of the army in Canada, but when Clinton's destination was found to be the southern states, Lee was found to be the southern states, Lee was transferred to the command of the department of the South, and went from new York to Virginia, where he organized the cavalry and advocated a speedy Declaration of Independence. He reached Charleston, South Carolina, with his army, June 4, 1776, the same day the British fleet entered the harbor with the troops of Clinton and Cornwallis. Gen. Moultrie had constructed a fort of palmetto wood on Sullivan's Island, which Lee proposed to abandon as indefensible, but through the efforts of President Rutledge the fort was garrisoned, and in the battle of June 28, 1776, Moultrie prevented the British fleet from making a landing, and Lee was given the credit of the victory and became popularly known as the "Hero of Charleston." He proposed to invade Florida, but congress ordered him to report to Philadelphia, where he received $30,000 indemnity for losses by the sequestration of his property in England. Lee arrived in New York, October 14, 1776, and assumed command of the right wing of the army on Harlem Heights. The acceptance of the resignation of Gen. Ward in May, 1776, made Lee senior-major-general. On November 16, 1776, the British captured Fort Washington, and forced Washington to defend Philadelphia. Washington had left Lee with 7,000 men in Westchester county, and when ordered to join Washington's army in New Jersey, Lee failed to obey. Washington was there fore forced to fall back to Princeton with 3,000 men, which place he reached December 2, 1776, and the same day Lee moved across the river and encamped at Morristown with 4,000 men. Gen. Schuyler had sent Gates from Ticonderoga with seven regiments at Morristown. Washington was subsequently forced back across the Delaware river into Pennsylvania. This situation gave Lee the opportunity he desired, and he industriously circulated reports of Washington's military incapacity. Holding a strong position at Morristown, he planned to fall upon the flank of Howe's army and if possible secure a victory that would give him the command of the American army. On December 13, 1775, a party of British dragoons surprised him at his headquarters at Baskingridge, and made Lee, with his staff, prisoner of war and was ordered sent to England for trial as a deserter. Washington to prevent this wrote Gen. Howe that he held five Hessian field-officers as hostages for Gen. Lee's personal safety, and on December 12, 1777, Lee was declared a prisoner of war subject to exchange. (It is now known that during his imprisonment in New York he planned a campaign against the American army which he claimed would result in the easy subjugation of the colonies, the identical plan, dated March 29, 1777, being discovered among the private papers of the Howes in 1857). He was exchanged in March, 1778, and joined Washington at Valley Forge. In June, when Sir Henry Clinton planned to retreat from Philadelphia across New Jersey to New York, Washington determined to oppose his march. Gen. Lee advised against risking a battle, and his opposition was so determined that Washington appointed Lafayette to the command of Lee's division. Lee solicitated restoration to the command and Lafayette yielded, when Washington repeated his orders to Lee and made them peremptory. When Lee overtook the British near Monmouth Court House, June 28, 1778, his conduct aroused the suspicion of Lafayette, who despatched an aide to Washington, who was bringing up the other division, asking him to hasten to the front, and when he reached Freehold Church he saw Lee's division in retreat, closely pursued by the British. The commander-in-chief charged Lee with disobeying his orders, and assuming command, he rallied the Americans and defeated the British, after which he ordered Lee to the rear. The next day he reinstated Lee in his old command in spite of which Lee addressed an exasperating letter to Gen. Washington, to which Washington made a severe reply. Washington ordered Lee under arrest, and in August, 1778, he was tried for disobeying orders, in not attacking the enemy; for making an unnecessary and disorderly retreat; and for disrespect to the commander-in-chief in two letters; was found guilty on all and was suspended for twelve months. He at once reopened his charges against Washington and was challenged by Col. John Laurens, Washington's aide-de-camp, which resulted in Lee's being severely wounded in the arm. He subsequently addressed a letter to congress which caused him to be dismissed from the army and he retired to his Virginia home until the close of the war. While on a visit to Philadelphia he was stricken with fever and died alone and friendless at the tavern at which he was stopping, October 2, 1782. he was the author of "Strictures on a Friendly Address to all Reasonable Americans, in reply to Dr. Myles Cooper" (1774); "Mr. Lee's Plan" (1777). He claimed to know the secret of the authorship of the "Junius" letters and afterwards acknowledged himself as the author, which statement called out a number of articles and books in refutation of his claims.

[Page 170]
      Neville, John, born in Prince William county, 1731, died near Pittsburgh, July 29, 1803. He was in Braddock's expedition, 1755; settled near Winchester, Virginia, and was sheriff, and delegate to provincial convention. He was at Trenton, Princeton, Germantown and Monmouth as colonel of the Fourth Virginia Regiment, and afterwards member of executive council of Pennsylvania. In 1794 he was a United States inspector under the excise law, and aided in putting down the whiskey insurrection.

[Page 170]
      Scott, Charles, was born in Goochland county, in 1733. He served under Gen. Braddock in 1755. In 1775 he raised and commanded the first company of patriots south of the James river; was commissioned colonel of the Third Virginia Battalion, August 12, 1776; was promoted brigadier-general, April 2, 1777; served with the army in New Jersey, 1777-79, and under Gen. Anthony Wayne at Stony Point in 1779. He was taken prisoner at Charleston in 1780 and confined until near the end of the war He removed to Woodford county, Kentucky, in 1785; commanded troops in the Indian outbreaks of 1791-94, and with battle of Fallen Timbers. he was governor of Kentucky, 1808-12, and a town and county in that state were named in his honor. He died in Kentucky, October 22, 1813.

[Pages 170-172]
      Morgan, Daniel, was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, probably in 1733, of Welsh descent. He worked for his father on a herb farm and received no education. He removed to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1753, and to Charlestown, Virginia, in 1754, where he obtained employment on a farm. He joined Braddock's army as a teamster in 1755, and at his defeat he transported the wounded to their homes. In 1753 a British officer struck him with a sword, and Morgan knocked him down, for which five hundred lashes were laid on his bare back. In 1757 he was with the militia sent to quell an Indian uprising at Edwards Fort on the Cocapehon river. As ensign he took part in the Indian campaign of 1758. While carrying despatches to Winchester he became engaged in a fight with Indians in which most of his comrades were slain and a musket ball passed through the back of his neck, removing all the teeth on the lft side of the jaw. In 1762 he received a grant of land in Frederick county, Virginia, and devoted himself to farming, naming his place "Soldier's Rest." He was married about this time to Abigail Bailey, daughter of a farmer. He served as lieutenant of militia during the Pontiac war. In 1763-64 he was captain of militia, and in 1773 served against the Indians. In June, 1775, he was appointed captain of one of the ten Virginia rifle companies raised to join Washington's army at Boston, which reached the American camp at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in July, 1775, having travelled six hundred mile sin twenty-one days, one of the first companies to report. On September 13, 1775, he wen ton the expedition to Quebec under Benedict Arnold, and was the first to cross the St. Lawrence river, November 13, 1775. He led the assault upon the lower town, took the battery, and fought upon the lower town, took the battery, and fought his way into the town, where for lack of support his command was captured. he was a prisoner at Quebec until August 10, 1776, when he was discharged on parole, sailed for New York, stayed for a time at his home, and in November, 1776, was commissioned colonel of the Eleventh Virginia Regiment. When his parole expired he was instructed to recruit men for his regiment. before his enlistment was complete he was ordered to the army at Morristown, New Jersey, and arrived there with 180 riflemen in April, 1777. He was placed in command of 500 sharpshooters (Morgan's rangers). On June 13, 1777, upon the advance of Lord Howe from New Brunswick, New Jersey, Morgan's rangers had several encounters, and upon Howe's retreat toward Amboy, Morgan was sent forward to annoy him, and followed Howe to Philadelphia. He found Gen. Gates at Stillwater in August, 1777; was a prominent figure at Freeman's Farm, September 19, and at the surrender of Burgoyne, October 7. He was complimented by both Gates and Burgoyne, the latter characterizing his rangers the finest regiment in the world. He refused to listen to Gates' criticism of Washington's conduct of the war and assured him that he would serve under no other man as commander-in-chief. At Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania, he rejoined Washington, who met Howe's army and compelled him to retire to Philadelphia, after which the Americans went into winter camp at Valley Forge, and Morgan returned to Virginia. During June, 1778, he served in the Monmouth campaign, but was not present at the battle. He was commissioned colonel of the Seventh Virginia Regiment in March, 1779, and in June, 1779, congress having promoted inferior officers over him, he resigned on the appointment of Gates to the command of the southern army. After the battle of Camden, he joined Gates at Hillsborough, was promoted brigadier-general October 13, 1780, and served under Gates and Greene, and in December, 1780, was sent by Greene to threaten the inland posts of Augusta and Ninety-six. Cornwallis sent Tarleton to prevent this, and Morgan retreated to the Cowpens. The battle of January 17, 1781, was one of the most brilliant of the war, and reflected credit upon the military genius of Morgan. The British army was put to flight, but the direction taken by Cornwallis obliged Morgan to cross the Fords of the Catawba in order to join Greene, and by a brilliant march he reached the river first and warned Greene of the situation. He took part in the manoeuvers leading to the battle of Guilford Court House, which resulted in Cornwallis' retreat into Virginia, but before the battle in February, 1781, he was incapacitated from further service by an attack of rheumatism and he returned home. In 1781 he joined in the suppression of the Tory rebellion in Virginia, and subsequently reported to Lafayette, near Jamestown, Virginia, and was given command of the light troops in Lafayette's command, but illness compelled him to retire in August, 1781. He engaged in the cultivation of his farm, and became wealthy. In 1790 he received from congress the gold medal voted to him for services rendered at the Cowpens. In 1795 he was chosen major-general of the Virginia troops that took part in the suppression of the whiskey insurrection in western Pennsylvania. He was a federal representative in the fifth congress, 1797-99, and supported the administration of John Adams. A statue was dedicated to him at Spartansburg, South Carolina, in 1881. He died at Winchester, Virginia, July 6, 1802.

[Page 172]
      Heth, William, born in Virginia, 1735, died in Richmond, April 15, 1808. He was an officer in Montgomery's regiment in the French war, and was wounded at Quebec. He joined the Americanarmy at the beginning of the revolution, and was lieutenant-colonel of the Third Virginia until the war closed; he afterward held a lucrative office under President Washington.

[Page 172]
      Woodford, William, was born in Caroline county, Virginia, in 1735. He distinguished himself in the French and Indian war. In 1775, when the Virginia militia assembled at Williamsburg, he was commissioned colonel of the Second Regiment. At Great Bridge, December 9, the same year, he fought the forces of Lord Dunmore, royal governor of the colony, and gained a victory. Dunmore had fortified a passage of the Elizabeth river, on the borders of the Dismal Swamp, where he suspected the militia would attempt to cross. At the Norfolk end of the bridge, Dunmore cast up his entrenchments, and supplied them amply with cannon. His forces consisted of British regulars, Virginia Tories, negroes and vagrants, in number about 600. Woodford had thrown a small fortification at the opposite end of the bridge. Early in the morning the Royalists attacked the Virginians. After considerable manoeuvering a sharp battle ensued which lasted about twenty-five minutes, when the assailants were repulsed and fled, leaving two spiked field pieces behind them. The loss of the assailants was fifty-five, killed and wounded; not a Virginian was killed. Woodford was afterward commander of the First Virginia Brigade, having been appointed brigadier-general. AT the battle of Brandywine, September 11, 1777, he was severely wounded, but was in the action at Monmouth, New Jersey, June 28, 1778, and at the siege of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1780. Here he was taken prisoner by the British and sent to New York City, where he died on November 13, of that year.

[Pages 172-173]
      Stevens, Edward, was born in Culpeper county, in 1745. He participated as major of militia in the battle of Great Bridge, December 9, 1775, and in the summer of 1776 was made colonel of the Tenth Virginia Regiment. In 1777 he was ordered to join Washington's army in new Jersey, and at the battle of Brandywine bore the brunt of Gen. William Howe's assault. Subsequently taking a gallant part in the battle of Germantown, he was advanced by congress to the rank of brigadier-general. He spent the winter of 1778 at Valley Forge, and in August, 1780, was transferred to the southern army under Gen. Gates, opening with a brigade of Virginia militia, the battle of Camden, and by his bravery being instrumental in preventing a disastrous rout of the American forces. He served under Gen. Green at the battle of Guilford Courthouse, where he was badly wounded, and for the bravery which he displayed on that occasion was warmly praised by Gen. Greene. He then rejoined Washington, with whom he participated in the siege of Yorktown. From 1782 until 1790 he was a member of the Virginia senate. He died in Culpeper county, Virginia, August 17, 1820.

[Page 173]
      Capbell, William, born in Augusta county, Virginia, about 1745, and was of Scotch origin. He received a liberal education, and early displayed a taste for military matters. He was made a captain in the first regiment of regular troops raised in Virginia, in 1775. In 1776 he resigned on account of the exposure of his family to Indian attacks, and returned to Washington county, where he was made lieutenant-colonel of militia, and succeeded Evan Shelby in the colonelcy. With this rank he continued until after the battle of Kings Mountain (of which he was the hero), and Guilford, when the Virginia legislature made him brigadier-general, with which rank he joined Lafayette. He became a favorite of that general, who gave him command of a brigade of light infantry and riflemen. A few weeks before the siege of Yorktown, illness obliged him to retire to the home of a friend, where he died, in his thirty-sixth year. The Virginia legislature voted him a horse, sword and pistols, for his conduct at Kings Mountain, and named a county in his honor. He married Sarah, sister of Patrick Henry.

[Pages 173-174]
      Febiger, Christian, was born on the island of Fuenen, Denmark, in 1746. He was sent to a military school, and then accompanied to Santa Cruz an uncle who had been appointed governor of that island. In 1772 he visited North America, and the following year entered into commerce with the New England colonies. On April 28, 1775, he joined a Massachusetts regiment, quickly rose to be adjutant, and was present at Bunker Hill, where he distinguished himself. Accompanying Arnold on his expedition to Quebec, he was taken prisoner at the storming of that post, December, 1775, and was detained in Canada until September, 1776, when he was sent with other prisoners to New York. In the meantime appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Eleventh Virginia, he joined his regiment January 1, 1777, and in September became colonel of the Second Virginia. he was in the campaign of Philadelphia, and the battle of Brandywine. At Germantown he held the right; with 4,000 men and two guns at Monmouth he acquitted himself brilliantly; and in the attack on Stony Point he commanded the right and personally captured the British commander. On September 1, 1780, Col. Febiger was ordered to Philadelphia, where he forwarded supplies to the army. Later, while in Virginia on recruiting duty, he assisted at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, retiring from active service, January 1, 1783, and was brevetted brigadier-general. He settled in Philadelphia, engaging in business, becoming treasurer of Pennsylvania, November 13, 1789, a position which he continued to hold the remainder of his life. He died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 20, 1796.

[Page 174]
      Graham, William, was born in Paxton township, Pennsylvania, December 19, 1746, son of Michael Graham, who emigrated from Ireland to America about 1725, and settled in Pennsylvania. William graduated from the College of New Jersey, A. B., 1773, A. M., 1776; studied theology, and was assistant to the Rev. John Brown in a classical school established in a log schoolhouse at Mount Pleasant, Virginia, which through amalgamation with Augusta Academy grew into Washington and Lee University. On October 16, 1775, he was received as a minister by the Presbytery of Hanover at Timber Ridge, Virginia. In 1774 he became rector of the log schoolhouse then known as Augusta academy, which became Liberty Hall, May 6, 1776; John Montgomery being his assistant. He also filled the chair of moral and intellectual philosophy and he added to his duties those of pastor of two churches and manager of a farm on North river near Lexington, Virginia, in 1782, when it was chartered by the Virginia assembly. The first class was graduated in 1785, the name having been changed in 1784 to Washington Academy, in recognition of a gift by Gen. Washington, of 100 shares of stock of the James River Canal Company valued at the time at $50,000. He resigned the presidency of Washington Academy in 1796 and went to the Ohio, where he purchased land with the design of settling there with his family and a few chosen friends. He was on a journey from the Ohio to Richmond, Virginia when he died at the home of his friend, Col. Gamble, and was buried near the south door of the Episcopal church on Church hill, rendered historical by the oration of Patrick Henry. President Graham was a trustee of Liberty Hall Academy, 1782-96. He was a member of the convention of 1784 to form a plan of government for the proposed state of Frankland, and drew up a plan of constitution which was not preserved, the project failing through as it infringed on the rights of the state of North Carolina. He died in Richmond, Virginia, June 8, 1799.

[Page 174]
      Meade, Richard Kidder, was born in Nansemond county, July 14, 1746, son of David and Susannah (Everard) Meade. He attended school at Harrow, England, and soon after his return to Virginia entered the patriot army. On June 24, 1775, with several others, he removed the arms from Lord Dunmore's house to the magazine at Williamsburg. He was in command of a company at the battle of Great Ridge, near Norfolk, in December, 1775, and served throughout the remainder of the war as aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington participating in all of his important battles. He superintended the execution of Maj. André, and at the close of the war he returned to Virginia and engaged in farming. He married (first) Elizabeth Randolph, and (second) Jane, widow of William Randolph, of Chatsworth. He died in Frederick county, in February, 1805.

[Pages 174-175]
      Jones, Joseph, born at "Cedar Grove," Petersburg, Virginia, August 23, 1749, son of Thomas Jones, grandson of Abraham Jones, and a descendant of Major Peter Jones, who married a daughter of Major-General Abraham Wood. 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," Peterburg, Virginia, February 9, 1824.