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[Page 225]
      Alexander, William C., was born in Virginia, January 4, 1806, second son of Archibald and Janetta (Waddel) Alexander. He was educated at Philadelphia and at Princeton College, where he was graduated in 1824. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar on arriving at his majority in 1827. He gained distinction as an advocate and orator, and took active part in political life. As lieutenant-governor of the state of New Jersey, he presided over the state senate for several years. In 1851 he was a candidate for governor, but was defeated by a vew votes. He was a member of the peace congress in 1861 and presided over many of its sessions. In 1859 he helped to organize the Equitable Life Assurance Society and was its first president, which office he held until his death, which occurred in New York City, August 23, 1874.

[Page 225]
      Campbell, Charles, was born in Petersburg, Virginia, May 1, 1807, son of John Wilson Campbell, the historian, who, in 1813, published a "History of Virginia to 1781." He was educated at Princeton, and upon his graduation in 1825, commenced teaching. From 1842 to 1855 he conducted a classical school, which he had established at Petersburg, and in the latter year became principal of the Anderson Seminary in that city. He was the editor of the famous "Bland Papers" (1840-43), and of the "Orderly Book of Gen. Andrew Lewis" (Richmond, 1860); and he was the author of "An Introduction to the History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia" (Richmond, 1847; Philadelphia, 1859); "Some Materials for a Memoir of John Daly Burke" (Albany, 1868). He was a contributor to the "Historical Register" and to the "Southern Literary Messenger." He died in Staunton, Virginia, July 11, 1876.

[Pages 225-226]
      Harrison, Gessner, born at Harrisonburg, Virginia, June 26, 1807, died April 7, 1862. He was one of the very first students to enter the newly founded University of Virginia, where he pursued a medical course, and in 1828 graduated from that institution, and at the same time was one of three graduates in Greek, having pursued his language studies under Professor George Long, who was shortly afterward recalled to England, and was asked to name his successor in the chair of ancient languages, his choice being Gessner Harrison, then barely twenty-one years of age, and he held the appointment for one year, but during that time he gave such abundant evidence of his talent and unusual attainments in scholarship, that in the following year his installation was made permanent, and his service was destined to cover the long period of thirty-one years, only ending then at his own volition. He was probably the first in the United States to employ the methods of comparative grammar in teaching Latin and Greek. He was insistent upon an ample knowledge of history and geography in studying the classics, and, for want of textbooks, himself prepared a pamphlet to meet the needs of his students. For seven years Professor Harrison occupied the position of chairman of the faculty, finally declining reëlection. In 1859, overburdened by the pressure of work, he resigned and removed to Albemarle county, where he opened a classical school for boys, which was subsequently removed to Nelson county, and was an institution of greatest influence throughout the South. Professor Harrison was the author of two works of approved merit: "Greek Prepositions," Philadelphia, 1848, and "Exposition of Some of the Laws of Latin Grammar," New York, 1852. He also wrote for Duyckinck's " Cyclopedia of American Literature," a historical sketch of the University of Virginia.

[Pages 226-227]
      Emmet, John Patton, M. D., born at Dublin, Ireland, April 8, 1796, son of Thomas Addis Emmet, the distinguished Irish patriot, who emigrated to this country in 1804, settling in New York City, where he became a lawyer of note, and was elected attorney-general of the state in 1822. John P. Emmet accompanied his father to the United States, and attended a private school in Flatbush, Long Island, New York. In 1814 he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, and after graduation was detailed as acting assistant professor of mathematics, which position he held until his resignation early in 1817, owing to ill health. In 1819, upon his return to New York from Naples, whither he had gone in order to recuperate, he began the study of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. William J. Macneven, after which he matriculated in the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, from which he received his medical degree in 1822. He at once located for active practice in Charleston, South Carolina, remaining until 1825, and while so engaged gained a reputation as a popular lecturer on Chemistry, his lectures attracting the attention of the founders of the University of Virginia, and when the first professors of that institution were appointed, in 1825, Dr. Emmet was called to the chair of chemistry, and his warrant, written and signed by Thomas Jefferson, is yet preserved. Dr. Emmet served in that capacity until 1842, a period of seventeen years, and during a portion of that time delivered a regular course of lectures upon materia medica as well as on chemistry. In addition to his capability as a lecturer, he was a skilled draughtsman, a sculpture of no mean ability, a musician, a composer, skillful in the composition of English verse, and was a careful writer, chiefly upon chemical and kindred topics. The more notable of his papers are contained in "Silliman's Journal;" these include "Iodide of Potassium as a Test for Arsenic," 1830; "Solidification of Gypsum," 1833; and "Formic Acid," 1837. To these are to be added others touching upon a line of investigation in which he was among the earliest and ablest — "A Description of a new Mode of Producing Electro-Magnetic Currents," 1833, and "An Inquiry into the Probable Cause of Electro-Magnetic Currents," 1835. He attained a profound knowledge of Latin and Greek, spoke fluently French and Italian, and had some knowledge of German. He was by nature a skillful mechanic, and possessed an unusual inventive turn of mind. Dr. Emmet married, in 1827, Mary Byrd Tucker, a native of Bermuda. He died in New York City, August 12, 1842.

[Page 227]
      Johnston, Peter, son of Peter and Martha Johnston, of "Longwood," Prince Edward county, Virginia. He was educated at Hampden-Sidney College, receiving a classical education. At the age of seventeen he left home and joined Lee's Legion, and was made a lieutenant. In 1782 he resigned and joined the light corps formed by Gen. Greene, as adjutant, with the rank of captain. At the close of the revolutionary war he returned home, studied law, and practiced his profession in Prince Edward and adjoining counties. He was elected a member of the Virginia house of delegates several times, and was a member at the time of the celebrated resolutions of 1798-1799, and the speech that he made upon this occasion was considered so able that it was published in full in the "Register," then the leading paper in the United States. In 1811 he was elected a judge of the general court, and assigned to the Prince Edward circuit, but he exchanged with Judge William Brockenbrough, who had been assigned to the southwest Virginia circuit, and came to Abingdon to live, and for twenty-one years lived at "Panicello," east of Abingdon, and presided over the superior court of law for this district with distinguished ability for more than twenty years. He died December 8, 1831, and was buried near his home, in this county. He was commissioned a brigadier-general by the legislature in early life. His wife, Mary Johnston, was the daughter of Valentine Wood and Lucy Henry, his wife, a sister of Patrick Henry, and a woman of distinguished ability. Some of his descendants were John w. Johnston, Peter Carr Johnston, Edward Johnston, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, Beverley Randolph Johnston, Charles C. Johnston, Benjamin Johnston, Mrs. Jane C. Mitchell and Algernon Sidney Johnston.

[Pages 227-228]
      Minor, Lucian, born in Louisa county, Virginia, in 1802, son of Launcelot Minor and Mary O. Tompkins, his wife, and grandson of John and Elizabeth (Cosby) Minor, of "Topping Castle," Caroline county, Virginia; after preparatory education, he became a student in the law department of the College of William and Mary, from which he was graduated in 1823; from 1828 to 1852, almost a quarter of a century, he served as commonwealth's attorney for Louisa county, Virginia, then removed to Charlottesville and edited a paper there; in 1855 he was appointed professor of law at William and Mary College and served until 1858; he contributed extensively to the "Southern Literary Messenger," in which paper his notes of travel on foot in New England were revised and published in 1834, and he was the author of a part of John A. G. Davis's "Guide to Justices" (1838); added notes to Daniel Call's "Virginia Reports;" revised and condensed the four volumes of Heming and Munford's reports into one, and wrote a tract on the "Reasons for Abolishing the Liquor Traffic;" he delivered before the alumni of the United States a eulogy on Professor John A. G. Davis; he was an earnest advocate of temperance; he married Lavinia Price, of Hanover county, Virginia; he died in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1858, and the Sons of Temperance erected in the college burial ground a monument to his memory.

[Page 228]
      Davis, John A. G., born in Middlesex county, Virginia, in March, 1802; studied at William and Mary College in 1819-20, and two years later commenced practice in Middlesex county; at the opening session of the University of Virginia he removed to Charlottesville, and was a student at the university during one year; followed his profession before the Virginia bar for five years; in 1830, upon the resignation of Professor Lomax, he was chosen professor of law at the university; on the night of November 12, 1840, while attempting, by virtue of the authority vested in him as chairman of the faculty, to disperse a disorderly assemblage of rebellious students, he was shot by a student from Georgia, and died from the wound three days later; the murderer escaped justice by forfeiting bail; Professor Davis was an eminent man in his profession, a distinguished writer on legal subjects, and a notably capable teacher, and his sudden death was a serious loss to the university; Professor Davis was the author of a large amount of legal writing, his more important publications being: "Estates Tail, Executory Devises, and Contingent Remainders, under the Virginia Statutes Modifying the Common Law;" "Treatise on Criminal Law, and Guide to Justices of the Peace," 1838; and "Against the Constitutional Right of Congress to Pass Laws Expressly and Especially for the Protection of Domestic Manufacturers."

[Page 228]
      Atkinson, Thomas, born in Dinwiddie county, Virginia, August 6, 1807, son of Robert Atkinson and Mary Tabb, his wife. He entered Yale College at the age of sixteen, but finished his education at Hampden-Sidney College, from which he graduated with the distinguished class of 1825. He studied law, and made a successful beginning in practice, but soon turned to the church, and after proper preparation was ordained deacon in the Protestant Episcopal church, and after proper preparation was ordained deacon in the Protestant Episcopal church, at the hands of Right Rev. William Meade, bishop of Virginia, November 18, 1836. He was assistant at Christ Church, Norfolk, for some months, and then, being ordained priest, was make rector of St. Paul's Church, in the same city. In 1839 he was called to St. Paul's Church, Lynchburg, then, in succession, to the rectorship of churches at Wilmington, North Carolina, and Baltimore, Maryland. On November 13, 1853, he was consecrated bishop of North Carolina, and continued as such until his death, at Wilmington, North Carolina, January 4, 1881. When he became bishop, he found the church in North Carolina sadly disorganized, his predecessor having gone over to Rome. The restoration under Bishop Atkinson was rapid and substantial. He received the degree of D. D. from Trinity College in 1846; and that of LL. D from the University of North Carolina in 1862, and from Cambridge University in 1867.

[Page 229]
      Fitzhugh, George, son of Dr. George Fitzhugh, of King George county, and his wife, Lucy Stuart, was born in Prince William county, Virginia, July 2, 1807, died in Huntsville, Walker county, Texas, July 30, 1881. He was largely self taught, the only education he received as a child being gained in what were known as the "field schools" of his native county. That the amount of knowledge thus acquired was probably not great may be inferred from the fact that Fitzhugh, when only nine years old, was frequently left in sole charge of the other pupils during the extended absence of the teacher. In spite of these early disadvantages he succeeded in securing a good education, studied law and practiced his profession for many years in Port Royal, Virginia, making a specialty of criminal cases. During President Buchanan's administration Mr. Fitzhugh was employed in the office of Attorney-General Black, in the land claim department. About this time he made his only visit to the northern states, lecturing in Boston, and visiting his relative by marriage, Gerrit Smith. At the house of the latter he met Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. These acquaintanceships derive their significance from his peculiar political opinions. Mr. Fitzhugh was a frequent contributor to the press, writing for the "New York Day Book," "Richmond Examiner," "De Bow's Review," and other journals and periodicals. He was "an eccentric and extreme thinker," claiming that slavery is the natural and rightful condition of society, which when not founded on human servitude, tends to cannibalism. Mr. Fitzhugh published "Sociology for the South, or the Failure of Free Society," (Richmond, 1854), and "Cannibals All, or Slaves without Masters," (1856).

[Page 229]
      Maupin, Socrates, born in Albemarle county, Virginia, November 12, 1808, a descendant of Gabriel Maupin, who came to Virginia in the French Huguenot emigration in 1700; after preparatory studies, he matriculated at Washington College, Lexington, Virginia, from which institution he was graduated in 1828, and then entered the medical department of the University of Virginia, from which he was graduated in the class of 1830, after which he pursued a general literary and scientific course in the same university, receiving the degree of Master of Arts in 1833; his first position was as professor of ancient languages and mathematics at Hampden-Sidney College, which he filled for two years, from 1833 to 1835, and then became principal of Richmond Academy, serving as such until 1838; then established a private school which he conducted until 1853, a period of fifteen years, and he was also one of the founders of the Richmond Medical School, in 1838, serving there in the capacity of professor of chemistry and later as dean; was appointed professor of chemistry and pharmacy in the University of Virginia, in 1853, and became chairman of the faculty the following year, continuing as such until his death, which occurred in Lynchburg, Virginia, October 19, 1871; he was an active member and promoter of the Virginia Historical Society.

[Pages 229-230]
      Radford, William, was born at Fincastle, Virginia, March 1, 1808,, son of Harriet Kennerly Radford and stepson of Gen. William Clark (q. v.). He was warranted midshipman in the United States navy, March 1, 1825; served on the Brandywine, when that frigate carried the Marquis de Lafayette to France; was attached to the Mediterranean squadron, 1827-28, and to the sloop Erie of the West Indian squadron, 1830-31. He was promoted passed midshipman, June 3, 1831; served on the John Adams of the Mediterranean squadron in 1835; was promoted lieutenant, February 9, 1837, and served on the Warren of the Pacific squadron, 1845-47. He was stationed on the western coast of Mexico, 1847-48; commanded the party that cut out a Mexican war vessel at Mazatlan in 1847, and was attached to the store ship Lexington, 1852-53. He was promoted commander, September 14, 1855; commanded the Daccotah of the East India squadron, 1860-61; was promoted captain, July 16, 1862, and commodore, April 24, 1863. He commanded the Cumberland in 1861, and was on court martial duty at Old Point Comfort, when that ship was attacked by the ram Merrimac. He made every effort to reach his ship before the fighting was over, but did not arrive at Newport News until the Cumberland was sinking. He was executive officer of the Brooklyn navy yard, 1862-64; commanded the New Ironsides, and the iron-clad division of Admiral Porter's squadron at Fort Fisher in December, 1864, and January, 1865. His ability and services in these two attacks were recognized and praised by Admiral Porter in his report to the secretary of the navy. He commanded the navyyard at Washington, D. C., 1866-68; was promoted rear admiral, July 25, 1868; commanded the Mediterranean squadron, 1869-70, and was retired March 1, 1870. He was on special duty in Washington, D. C., 1871-72, and died in that city, January 8, 1890.

[Pages 230-231]
      Slaugher, Philip, clergyman, was born in Springfield, Virginia, October 26, 1808; son of Capt. Philip Slaughter, of the Eleventh Continental Regiment, army of the revolution. He was the cousin of William Bank Slaughter, who organized the state of Wisconsin. Philip was educated privately and at the academy at Winchester, Virginia; studied law at the University of Virginia, 1825-28, and was admitted to the bar. He entered the Episcopal Theological Seminary, Alexandria, Virginia, 1833; was ordained deacon in Trinity Church, Staunton, 1834, and priest in St. Paul's Church, Alexandria, 1835. He was rector at Dettingen, Virginia; of Christ Church, Georgetown, District of Columbia, 1836-40; of the parishes of Meade and Johns, 1840-43, and St. Paul's Church, Petersburg, Virginia, 1843-48. On account of ill health he spent 1848-49 in foreign travel. In 1856 he erected a church on his own land in Culpeper county, and officiated there without remuneration until the Federal army destroyed it in 1862. He then preached in his own house, in camps and hospitals. In 1874 he received the degree of D. D. from Maryland. The church convention made him historiographer of the diocese of Virginia. He edited "The Virginia Colonizationist," (1850); "The Army and Navy Messenger"; "The Southern Church" (19=865); and is the author of: "St. George's Parish History," (1847); "Man and Woman," (1860); "Live of Randolph Fairfax," (1862); "Life of Col. Joshua Fry," (1880); "Historic Churches of Virginia," (1882); "Live of Hon. William Green," (1883); "Views from Cedar Mountains," (1884); "The Colonial Church of Virginia," (1885); "Christianity the Key to the Character and Career of Washington," (1886); and an "Address to the Minute-Men of Culpeper," (1887), He died in Culpeper county, Virginia, June 12, 1890.

[Page 231]
      McCormick, Cyrus Hall, son of Robert McCormick and Mary McChesney, his wife, was born at "Walnut Grove," Rockbridge county, Virginia, February 15, 1809. His father was a farmer and machinist of mechanical genius. He attempted to perfect a grain-cutting machine, but it failed to work. His son Cyrus, who had already shown much inventive talent in fashioning a side hill plow and other tools for farm use, then took up the idea and invented a machine on entirely different principles, which did work. The new machine made by Cyrus H. McCormick was put in a field of wheat on the home farm and in a field of oats on the farm of John Steele and proved successful. The essential features of the implement were a reciprocating knife moving through fixed fingers, a revolving reel, a receiving platform and a divider, piloting the standing grain to the cutting bar. These features are found in all the modern grain-cutting machines. He took out a patent in 1834 and in 1840 began a manufacture of them at his shop in Rockbridge. In 1846 after the death of his father, Cyrus H. engaged a firm in Chicago to manufacture 100 reapers for the harvest of 1847, and obtained a new patent covering some improvements. He exhibited his machine at the World's Fair in London in 1851, at the Paris Exposition in 1855, and at Hamburg in 1863, and won the grand prize each time. Mr. McCormick located in Chicago, and though his patent was constantly infringed upon, built up an enormous business. The reaper had an immense effect upon increasing the wheat crop of the country, which rose from 40,000,000 bushels in 1850 to 200,000,000 in 1860. The returns from the sales of his implements were largely invested in Chicago real estate and Chicago enterprises. He educated his employees and cared for their moral, physical and mental welfare. He made many gifts of an educational character to Washington and Lee University; University of Virginia, the Union Theological Seminar at Hampden-Sidney, and the McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. In 1872 he took upon himself the burden of a religious paper, the "Interior," which became the organ of United Presbyterianism over the whole northwest. In 1876 his name was urged for a second place on the Democratic national ticket, but he withdrew in behalf of Thomas A. Hendricks. He was chairman of the Democratic state central committee of Illinois, and condemned the reconstruction measures. His invention has been recognized as probably the most important of the nineteenth century. He died at his home in Chicago, May 13, 1884.

[Pages 231-232]
      Doggett, Daniel Seth, was born in Virginia, in 1810. His father was a lawyer and the son began the study of that profession, but changed to the ministry. He was educated at the University of Virginia, and became an itinerant minister in 1829, traveling through the southern states. In 1866 he accepted a professorship in Randolph-Macon College, and in 1873 was made a Methodist bishop. He was about to take charge of the California conference, when he was seized with the illness which resulted in his death. He was the author of "The War and Its Close (Richmond, 1864). He died in Richmond, Virginia, October 27, 1880.

[Page 232]
      Bittle, David Frederick, born near Myersville, Frederick county, Maryland, in January, 1811, son of Thomas and Mary Bittle. He was graduated from Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg, and studied for two years in the Theological Seminary at that place. After occupying several pastorates, in 1842, at Mt. Tabor, Augusta county, Virginia, he aided in establishing the Virginia Collegiate Institute. Removed to Salem, Roanoke county, in 1847, it was erected into Roanoke College, with Dr. Bittle as the first president. In 1861, of its one hundred and eighteen students, all except seventeen entered the Confederate army, but Dr. Bittle kept the institution open. During the twenty-three years of his presidency, he placed the institution on a substantial basis. He died September 25, 1876.

[Page 232]
      Coleman, Frederick W., well known to the past generation as "Old Fred," was born in Caroline county, Virginia, in 1811, son of Thomas B. Coleman and Elizabeth Coghill, his wife; attended common schools, then entered University of Virginia, was a student from 1832 to 1834, receiving the degree of Master of Arts; founded the Concord Academy, in Caroline county, Virginia, this being among the best of the private high schools of Virginia, and to this came many representative youths from the South; the knowledge of the ancient classics was taught to the fullest degree, and from it went forth some of the most notable scholars which the South has produced; there were but few rules in the school, except that every pupil was expected to be a gentleman and to know his lesson, and there was no excuse for any breach of these rules; the result was that its scholars took high rank wherever they went, and not since Dr. Arnold, at Rugby, was there greater interest and pride shown between master and scholars than existed between the head of this academy and the men whom he taught; many stories are told of the rare method of teaching in this school; the principal was for years a member of the state senate, and he would return home unexpectedly, at night or in the day, and the school would be brought up, and every member of it had to give an account of what had been done in his absence, how much Latin and Greek had been construed, generally with the result of mutual satisfaction on the part of all concerned. After fifteen years Coleman closed his school and retired to his home, where he died in 1868; the school was continued by his nephew, Col. Lewis Minor Coleman, and Col. Hilary P. Jones, having been moved to the adjoining county of Hanover, where its name was changed to that of the Hanover Academy.

[Pages 232-233]
      Garnett, Theodore S., Sr., who occupied a prominent position in the South as a railroad man and civil engineer, was born at "Elmwood," Essex county, Virginia, November 12, 1812, son of James Mercer and Mary Eleanor Dick (Mercer) Garnett; was educated under private tutors, in Rumford Academy, King William county, and the University of Virginia, which he entered in 1828, but was compelled to leave during the session of 1829, on account of the illness of his brother Charles; after devoting himself to farming in Mason county, near Point Pleasant, for a few years, he began the study of civil engineering, and received a position with the Philadelphia, Reading & Pottsville railroad, and subsequently with the Richmond & Petersburg railroad; after a visit to Texas in the interests of the land claims of the Texas Association, he became the chief engineer of the Columbia & Charlotte railroad; in 1852, after service as an engineer in Kentucky, he became assistant to Gen. Gwynn, on the North Carolina railroad, of which he afterwards became superintendent; in 1857 he was elected chief engineer of the railroad from Tallahassee to Fernandina; in 1858 he retired to his estate at Cedar Hill, Hanover county, Virginia, where he lived until 1877, when he removed to Norfolk to spend the last years of his life with his son in that city; during the civil war he was an ardent supporter of the Confederacy, and though too old for active service served on the field at Seven Pines; he married, April 18, 1839, at Pensacola, Florida, Florintina I. Moreno, who was living in 1904; children: James Mercer, Theodore S., Ella Isidora; he died May 28, 1885.

[Page 233]
      Herndon, William Lewis, born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, October 25, 1813, son of Dabney Herndon, cashier of the Farmers' Bank, and Elizabeth Hull, his wife; after preparatory education, he entered the navy as midshipman in 1828, and was promoted to passed midshipman in 1834 and lieutenant in 1841; served on various cruising stations and was actively employed during the Mexican war; after three years of duty at the naval observatory he was sent to the South Pacific station, where in 1851 he received orders detaching him from his shp, and directing him to explore the valley of the Amazon to ascertain its commercial resources and capabilities; he started from Lima, and crossed the Cordilleras in company with Lieut. Lardner Gibbon, who separated from him to explore the Bolivian tributaries, while Lieut. Herndon followed the main trunk of the Amazon to its mouth, returning to the United States in 1852; the report of this expedition was published by the government in two volume, of which Lieut. Herndon wrote Vol. I, "Explorations of the Valley of the River Amazon" (Washington, 1853); this work was extensively circulated, and is still cited in works on ethnology and natural history; he was made commander in 1855; he took service in the line of mail steamers plying between New York and the Isthmus of Panama; on September 8, 1857, he left Havana in command of the Central America, formerly the George Law, carrying a large number of passengers returning from California and gold amounting to $2,000,000; the ship encountered a cyclone in the edge of the Gulf Stream, which destroyed it, Commander Herndon and four hundred and twenty-six others losing their lives, September 12, 1857, commander Herndon remaining on his ship to the last; his devotion to duty excited general admiration, and led his brother officers to erect a fine monument to his memory at the naval academy in Annapolis; a daughter of Commander Herndon became the wife of Chester A Arthur, who was afterward President of the United States.

[Pages 233-234]
      Boyd, Andrew Hunter Holmes, born in Boydsville, Virginia, in 1814, died there December 16, 1865. He was graduated at Jefferson College in 1830, studied theology in Scotland, was ordained by the presbytery of Winchester, and passed his life in the pastorate of the Presbyterian church in that section. He was connected with the new-school Presbyterian body until 1859; but at the session of the general assembly at Cleveland in that year the discussion of the slavery question developed irreconcilable differences, and Dr. Boyd, with other commissioners from the slave holding states, seceded from the assembly and organized the "United Synod of the Presbyterian Church," composed of those presbyteries in the slave holding states which had belonged to the new-school general assembly, but were dissatisfied with its course on the subject of slavery. At the beginning of the war he took decided ground in favor of secession.

[Page 234]
      Blackburn, William, born in Virginia, in 1814, died in California in 1867. He went to California in 1845, took part as volunteer in the conquest of that country in 1846-47, and was appointed alcalde at Santa Cruz immediately thereafter. In this office he served two years, and in 1850 was elected county judge of Santa Cruz county. He was one of the best representatives of the large class of early popular alcaldes in the new territory, legally untrained but socially important men, who administered justice after a manner less accurate in a technical sense than useful for the needs of the singular community of those days, His decisions were in some cases widely discussed, and are often quoted in historical sketches.

[Page 234]
      Freeman, William Grigsby, was born in Virginia, in 1815, died in Cornwall, Pennsylvania, November 12, 1866. He was graduated at the United States Military Academy in 1834, and assigned to the Fourth Artillery. He served in the Florida war, and was made first lieutenant for gallantry on several occasions. In 1840 he became instructor of infantry and artillery tactics at West Point, and in the following year served on the northern frontier at Buffalo, during the Canada border disturbances. From 1841 until 1849 he served as assistant in the adjutant-general's office in Washington, D. C. He was afterward chief of staff to Gen. Scott, commanding the army headquarters at New York. He was brevetted major in 1847, and lieutenant-colonel in 1848, "for meritorious conduct, particularly in the performance of his duty in the prosecution of the war with Mexico." He made a tour of inspection of the department of Texas in 1853, and served as assistant adjutant-general from 1853 till 1856, when he resigned on account of failing health, which prevented his taking part in the civil war.

[Page 234]
      Brooke, George Mercer, a descendant of Robert Brooke, who settled in Virginia about 1680, entered the army in 1808 as first lieutenant in the Fifth Infantry, was made captain May 1, 1810, and became major in the Twenty-third Infantry in 1814. On August 15, 1814, he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for gallant conduct in defence of Fort Erie, and on September 17 was brevetted colonel. He was made a brevet brigadier-general September 17, 1824, and in July, 1831, served as colonel of the Fifth Infantry. He fought in the war with Mexico, and was brevetted major-general for his services May 30, 1848. At the time of his death he was in command of the Eighth Military Department. He died in San Antonio, Texas, March 9, 1851. Fort Brooke, at the head of Tampa Bay, Florida, received its name from him.