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[Page 255]
Mark, John, an emigrant from Ulster, Ireland. He was an ardent
Whig in the revolution. He purchased a splendid estate in Berkeley county, called "Travellers'
Rest," from Gen. Gates, with whom he maintained a familiar correspondence. He removed to
Fredericksburg, and was a leading member of the first Presbyterian church. He married Ellen
Morrow, a relative of James Rumsey. His daughter Ann married John Baker, Jr., congressman from
1811 to 1813; she was a passenger on James Rumsey's boat at Shepherdstown in 1786.
[Page 255]
Blair, John Durbarrow, son of Rev. John Blair, principal of Fogg's
Manor, Chester county, Pennsylvania, was born at Fogg's Manor, October 15, 1759. He was educated
as a Presbyterian minister under his father's care, and at an early date came to Virginia. He
presided over Washington Henry Academy in Hanover, and assumed control of Pole Green Church,
founded by Samuel Davies. This church he continued to serve till his removal to Richmond. For
many years he officiated in the capitol alternately with Rev. John Buchanan, an Episcopal
minister, preaching to the same congregation. He was first pastor of the Grace Street
Presbyterian Church in Richmond. He died January 10, 1823. George Wythe Munford made Blair and
/Buchanan the subject of a work called "The Two Parsons," to weave around them a charming account
of the early days of Richmond. Mr. Lewis H. Blair (q. v.).
is one of his descendants.
[Pages 255-256]
Rind, William, was an apprentice of Jonas Green, editor of the
"Maryland Gazette." In 1766 he was invited to Virginia by Thomas Jefferson and other leading
patriots to set up an opposition "Gazette" to the one published by Joseph Royle, which was too
much under royal control. He was appointed public printer by the house of burgesses. The motto of
his paper was "open to all parties, but influenced by none." He died August 19, 1773, and his
paper was carried on for two years by his widow, Clementina Rind, a native of Maryland. She died
two years after her husband, when John Pinkney succeeded her. William Rind left two sons, James,
a clever letter writer and lawyer in Richmond about 1864, and William, and a daughter Maria,
first wife of Judge John Coalter.
[Page 256]
Paradise, John, son of Peter Paradise, was born at Thessalonica,
where his father, a Greek, was British consul. He removed to London, where he was a friend of
Samuel Johnson, and member of the "Literary Club." He is mentioned by Boswell in his "Life of
Johnson." He came to Virginia about 1783, and became a citizen of that state and was a member of
the board of visitors of William and Mary College. After 1788 he returned with his wife to
London, where he died in 1795. his wife was Lucy Ledwell, youngest daughter of Hon. Philip
Ludwell, and she returned from London to Virginia in 1805. Paradise had two daughters, Portia and
Lucy, which last married Count Philip J. Barziza, of Venice, whose son of the same name settled
in Williamsburg, married Cecilia Belette, and had ten children. The last was named Decimus
Ultimus Barziza. When Mrs. Paradise returned to Virginia, after the death of her husband, she
brought among other household treasures, her dining table, around which the Literary Club had so
often been entertained. This table is now the property of Miss Mary J. Galt, of Williamsburg.
[Page 256]
Rumsey, James, born at Bohemia Manor, Cecil county, Maryland,
about 1743; he was a machinist and boat builder, and his most notable invention, the steamboat
was constructed at Shepherdstown, Virginia, and was used upon the Potomac river, at that place.
In 1784 he exhibited to Washington the model of a boat for stemming the current of rivers, by the
force of the stream acting upon setting poles. This he patented in several states, and in March,
1785, he obtained from the Pennsylvania assembly an exclusive ten years' right "to navigate and
build boats to work with greater care and rapidity." Later he launched upon the Potomac river a
boat provided with a steam engine and machinery of his own construction that propelled the vessel
by the force of a steam of water thrown out by a pump at the stern. He made a successful trial
trim in December, 1787, which was witnessed by a large concourse of people, and he was granted
the rights of so navigating the streams of New York, Maryland and Virginia. The Rumsey Society,
of which Benjamin Franklin was a principal member, was founded in Philadelphia in 1788, for the
purpose of furthering his enterprise. He then went to England, where a similar society was
organized, and he obtained patents for his inventions in Great Britain, France and Holland. At
London, a boat and machinery were built for him, and a successful trial trip was made on the
?Thames in December, 1792, and he died while preparing for a second experiment, December 23, same
year. He rose to address a large audience in London and fell dead. He published "A Short Treatise
on the Application of Steam," which involved him in a controversy with John Fitch. In 1839 the
Kentucky legislature presented to his son a gold medal, "commemorative of his father's services
and high agency in giving to the world the benefits of the steamboat."
[Pages 256-257]
Braidwood, John, son of John Braidwood of Edinburgh and London.
His father was founder of a school in London, for the instruction of the deaf and dumb. The son
came to "Cobb's," Goochland county, Virginia, to teach afflicted children in the family of
William Bolling, and, as a result, Mr. Bolling established the first institution in America for
the education of the deaf and dumb. The school had six or seven scholars and was under the charge
of Braidwood, and, after several years, was abandoned on account of his bad habits, from which
Mr. Bolling found it impossible to retrieve him. He died in 1819 or 1820, a victim of
intemperance.
[Page 257]
Davies, William, a native of Delaware, son of Rev. Samuel Davies,
who succeeded Rev. Jonathan Edwards in the presidency on Princeton College; his mother, before
her marriage, was Mary Holt, of Williamsburg, Virginia, sister of William Holt, mayor of that
city. He graduated at Princeton College, and afterwards was a teacher there. Richard Stockton (a
signer of the Declaration of Independence) became his guardian and law preceptor. He served
through the revolutionary war, was engaged in various battles, and was made colonel. After the
war, President Washington appointed him United States collector at Norfolk, an office which he
held until the incoming of the Jefferson administration. Later he was appointed to settle the war
accounts between Virginia and the Federal government, which kept him for several years in New
York and Philadelphia. He married Mary Murray Gordon, daughter of James Murray, and widow of
Alexander Gordon, merchant of Petersburg.
[Page 257]
Thornton, Anthony, born at "Ormsby," Caroline county, Virginia,
February 1, 1748, son of Anthony Thornton and Sarah Taliaferro, his wife; was a member of the
Caroline county committee of safety in 1775-1776, and during the revolution he was appointed
lieutenant-colonel of the militia in 1777; county lieutenant from 1779 to 1789. He commanded the
Caroline militia. He was at the siege of Yorktown, and his force took part in the attack on
Gloucester Point. In 1868 Col. Thornton removed with his family to Kentucky, where one of his
descendants has in possession the sword which he carried during the war for independence. He died
at Paris, Bourbon county, Kentucky, December 21, 1818. His brother, Presley, commanded a cavalry
company, another brother was an aide to Washington, in the same war.
[Page 257]
Thornton, James Bankhead, born at "Mount Zephyr," Caroline county,
Virginia, August 28, 1806, son of James B. Thornton, and grandson of Col Anthony Thornton (q.
v.). He was educated at William and Mary College and studied law. He was a member of the Virginia
senate in 1838-40. He was one of the principal movers in the founding of the Virginia Military
Institute at Lexington. He practiced his profession at Warrenton, Fauquier county and
subsequently at Bowling Green, Caroline county, Virginia. In 1847 he removed to Memphis,
Tennessee, where he continued to practice law. He was author of a Digest of the Conveyancing,
Testamentary and Registry Laws of the States of the Union" (Philadelphia, 1847), and a work on
"Assignments," the manuscript of which was burned by accident before it could be published.
During the civil war he was identified with the cause of the Southern Confederacy. He died at
Memphis, Tennessee, October 12, 1867.
[Page 258]
Minor, Thomas, born at "Locust Grove," Spotsylvania county,
Virginia, in 1751, son of Captain Thomas Minor and Alice Thomas, his wife. He was in military
service during the entire war of the revolution, holding commissions in turn as second and first
lieutenant, adjutant, and as captain and aide-de-camp to Gen. Edward Stevens, at the siege and
surrender of Yorktown. After the war he was colonel of militia, justice of the peace, and twice
high sheriff. Twice he was called upon to do public honor to the Marquis de Lafayette —
first in 1824, when that illustrious soldier and friend to America was given a public reception,
Col. Minor acting as master of ceremonies; and a decade later (July 11, 1834), when at a memorial
service in honor of Lafayette, then lately deceased, Col. Minor acted as chief pall-bearer, and
though in his eighty-third year, marched on foot. The old veteran became overheated and took a
cold which resulted in pneumonia, and ended in his death, on the 21st of the same month. On the
previous Fourth of July he had entertained a host of neighbors and friends with a barbecue and
out-of=door entertainments on a very liberal scale. He was fond of dogs and horses, and is
mentioned in the "Virginia Historical Magazine" as one of the principal improvers of the blooded
horses of the state, by imputation and systematic breeding. He rode his favorite horse, "Gentle
Kitty" to Washington City, to pay his respects to Gen. Jackson, then just elected to the
presidency, and was received with distinguished friendship and appreciation. He married, in 1781,
Elizabeth, daughter of Col. James Taylor, of "Midway," Caroline county, Virginia.
[Pages 258-259]
Tatham, William, born in Hutton, England, in 1752. He came to
America in 1769, and engaged in a mercantile business on the James river, Virginia. He served as
adjutant in the operations against the Indians, with whom he came into familiar contact, and from
the knowledge of their history which he gained he wrote excellent biographical accounts of
Atakullakulla, Oconistoto, Cornstalk and other distinguished chiefs. During the revolutionary war
he was a colonel of Virginia cavalry under Gen. Thomas Nelson, and was of the party that stormed
the Yorktown redoubt. With Col. John Todd, in 1780, he compiled the first trustworthy account of
the western country. After the revolutionary war, he studied law; in 1784 was admitted to the
bar, and in 1786 removed to North Carolina, where he founded the settlement of Lumberton, and was
a member of the legislature in 1787. In 1796 he returned to England, and became superintendent of
the London docks. He came back to Virginia in 1805. He was impoverished in his old age, and was
made military storekeeper in the Richmond arsenal. While so engaged, on February 22, 1819, he
committed suicide by springing in front of a cannon at the instant of its firing in a salute in
honor of Washington's birthday. He was one of the most remarkable men of his day, and in his many
published works anticipated by more than a half century all others in calculating the
agricultural and commercial possibilities of the new nation, and making suggestions for their
development, as witness: "An Analysis of the State of Virginia" (1790); "Two Tracts relating to
the Canal between Norfolk and North Carolina" (1797); "Remarks on Inland Canals" (1798);
"Political Economy of Inland Navigation, Irrigation and Drainage" (1799); "Communications on the
Agriculture and commerce of the United States" (1800); "Historical and Practical Essay on the
Culture and Commerce of Tobacco" (1800); "National Irrigation" (1801); "Oxen for Tillage" (1801).
[Page 259]
Hunter, Andrew, born in Virginia in 1752, the son of a British
officer, and was licensed to preach by the first Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1773, immediately
after which he made a missionary tour through Virginia and Pennsylvania. In 1775 he was appointed
a brigade chaplain, served throughout the revolutionary war, and received the public thanks of
Gen. Washington for the valuable services he had rendered at the battle of Monmouth. He was
principal of a school near Trenton, New Jersey, in 1794, an in 1804 he was elected professor of
mathematics and astronomy at Princeton. He resigned from this office in 1808 to take charge of
the Bordentown Academy, and in 1800 became a chaplain in the navy. He married a daughter of
Richard Stockton, the singer. He died in Washington, D. C., February 24, 1823.
[Page 259]
Kennon, Richard, of "Finewood," Mecklenburg county, Virginia, son
of Robert Kennon and Sarah Skipwith, baronet. He entered the revolutionary war as lieutenant in
the Fifth Virginia Regiment, and served with distinction. He was made brigadier-general of state
troops; was county lieutenant of Mecklenburg county in 1789; member of house of delegates; state
senator, and speaker of senate, 1801. He was the first governor of the territory of Louisiana,
under President Jefferson, and he died while holding that office, in New Orleans, at the age of
forty-four. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Col. Robert Munford, of "Richland, " Mecklenburg
county, Virginia. Commodore Beverley Kennon (q. v.),of the United States navy was his son.
[Page 259]
Bellini, Charles, doubtless came to Virginia with Philip Mazzel,
in 1773; his name is found in the roll of Albemarle volunteers in 1775, and on 1779 to 1783 on
the Masonic rolls at Williamsburg. In 1779 he became the first professor of modern languages in
Maryland — the first institution of learning in the United States to establish such a
professorship. When the college was temporarily closed, in 1781, the Abbé Robin states
that he saw "this solitary professor of Italian extraction" at Williamsburg, and that "his
conversation and abilities appeared to be such that after what he told us of his brethren, we
could not help regretting their absence." he died in 1803.
[Pages 259-260]
Hankel, Paul, born in Rowan county, North Carolina, December 15,
1754, a descendant of Gerhardt, a court preacher in Germany, and one of the earliest Lutheran
ministers to come to America, who settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania, about 1740. nearly all the
male descendants have been Lutheran clergymen. Paul's father settled in North Carolina, but in
1760 the family were driven by the Catawba Indians to take refuge in western Virginia. The son
grew up an expert hunter and familiar with Indian warfare. About 1776 he listed to the preaching
of Whitefield, and determined to enter the ministry. After receiving a brief classical and
theological training from the Lutheran clergyman in Fredericktown, Maryland, he was licensed to
preach by the
synod, settled at New Market, Virginia, and was ordained in Philadelphia, June 6, 1792. He
established several churches in the vicinity of New Market an in Augusta county, Virginia, and
Rowan county, North Carolina, where he labored subsequently, While in North Carolina he helped to
form the synod there. He returned to New Market in 1805, and made missionary tours through
western Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. He was a fervent speaker and writer,
both in English and German, a man of earnest convictions, who roused much opposition by his
insistance on the conservation of the original confessions and rites of the church.
He published a work in German on "Baptism and the Lord's Supper," 1809, which afterward
translated into English; a German hymn book, 1810; and one in the English language, 1816, in each
of which were included many hymns composed by himself. He also issued a German Catechism, 1814,
followed by one in English, and was the author of a German satirical poem entitled
"Zeitvertreib." He died at New Market, Virginia, November 17, 1825.
[Pages 260-261]
Weems, Mason Locke, born in Anne Arundell county, Maryland, about
1760. He studied theology in Edinburgh, took orders in the Protestant Episcopal church, and for
some years was rector of Pohick Church, Truro parish, Virginia, at which Washington was an
attendant. About 1790 necessities of his family obliged him to resign this charge, and he became
a book agent for Mathew Carey, the Philadelphia publisher. he was remarkably successful in that
employment, "travelling throughout the south with his books in his saddle-bags, equally ready for
a stump, a fair or a pulpit." He was eccentric in mind and manner, and whenever he heard of a
public meeting he would attend it, and, collecting a crowd about him, urge on his hearers the
merits of his books, interspersing his remarks with anecdotes and humorous sallies. With his
temperance pamphlet, entitled "The Drunkard's Glass," illustrated with cuts, he would enter
taverns and, by mimicking the extravagances of the drunkard, so amuse and delight his audiences
that he had no trouble in selling his wares. He was an expert violin player, on which he
performed for young people to dance, thereby causing much scandal in pious communities. On one
occasion he had promised to assist at a merrymaking, but fearing for his clerical character, he
decided to play behind a screen. in the course of the evening it was overturned, disclosing the
parson to the jeers of the company. On another occasion he was obliged to pass through a
dangerous district of South Carolina, which at that time was infested with robbers. just at
nightfall his wagon sank into a quagmire; two ruffians appeared and were about to seize him, when
he took out his violin and so charmed them by his music that they lifted his wheels out of the
mud and let him go. "I took precious care," said Weems, "to say nothing of my name. When they
pressed the question my fiddle drowned their words and mine too." Of his temperance tracts Bishop
William Meade says in his "Old Churches and Old Families of Virginia:" "They would be most
admirable in their effects but for the fact that you know not what to believe of the narrative.
There are passages of deep pathos and great eloquence in them." This charge of a want of veracity
is brought against all of Weems' writings, but there is no improbability apparent in any of them,
and indeed, there is too much tendency to hypercritism with many modern writers.
Several of the most widely circulated anecdotes of the youth of Washington, especially the famous
one of the hatchet, rest on his authority. An entertaining sketch of Weems' early pastorate is
given in the "Travels in America" of John Davis, London, 1802. In this narrative he figures as a
pious and devout preacher, devoted to good works. One of his pamphlets, "The Philanthropist," was
commended by Washington in an autograph letter to the author, wh prefixed ti to subsequent
editions of the tract. His principal works are "Life of George Washington," which is still
largely sold in the rural districts of many parts of the country, and is the most popular
biography of that general in existence, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1800; eleventh edition, with
additions, in 1811; "Life of General Francis Marion," 1805; "Life of Benjamin Franklin, with
Essays," 1817; and "Life of William Penn," 1819. Mr. Weems died in Beaufort, South Carolina,
1819.
[Pages 261-262]
Harper, Robert Goodloe, born near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in
1765, a son of Jesse Harper and Diana Goodloe, his wife, who in his childhood removed to
Granville, North Carolina. At the age of fifteen he served under Gen Greene, in a troop of horse
composed of the youth of the neighborhood, during the closing scenes of the revolution. He
graduated from Princeton in 1785, studied law in Charleston, South Carolina, and was admitted to
the bar in 1786. Shortly afterward he removed to the interior of the state, where he became well
known through a series of articles on a proposed change in the constitution. He was elected to
the legislature, and later to congress, serving from February 9, 1795, until March 3, 1801,
warmly supporting the administrations of Washington and Adams. During his active service in the
war of 1812, he was promoted from the rank of colonel to that of major-general. Soon after the
defeat of the Federalists, he married the daughter of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, removed to
Baltimore, Maryland, where he attained eminence at the bar. In association with Joseph Hopkinson
he was employed as counsel for Judge Samuel Chase, of the United States supreme court, in his
impeachment trial. At a dinner given at Georgetown, D. C., June 5, 1813, in honor of the Russian
victories, he gave as a toast, "Alexander, the Deliverer," following it with a speech eulogizing
the Russians. Upon the publication of the speech, Robert Walsh addressed the author a letter in
which he expressed the opinion that the orator underrated the military character of Napoleon, and
failed to point out the danger of Russian ascendency. To this letter Harper made an elaborate
reply, Walsh responded, and the correspondence was then published in a volume (1814). Harper was
elected to the United States senate from Maryland to serve from January 29, 1816, to March 3,
1821, but resigned in the first mentioned year to become one of the Federalist candidates for
vice-president. In 1819-20 he visited Europe with his family, and upon his return employed
himself chiefly in the promotion of schemes for internal improvements. He was an active member of
the American Colonization Society, and the town of Harper, near Cape Palmas, Africa, was named in
his honor. His pamphlet entitled "Observations on the Dispute Between the United States and
France," 1797, acquired great celebrity. he also printed :"An Address on the British Treaty,"
1796; "Letters on the Proceedings of Congress;" and "Letters to His constituents," 1801. A
collection of his various letters, addresses and pamphlets was published with the title "Select
Works," Baltimore, 1814. Mr. Harper died in Baltimore, Maryland, January 15, 1825.
[Page 262]
Bibb, George M., born in Prince Edward county, Virginia, October
30, 1776, son of Rev. Richard Bibb. He graduated at Princeton College in 1792, studied law at
William and Mary College, and settled in Kentucky. There he became a member of the legislature,
was three times chief justice, a state senator two years, and a United States Senator from 1829
to 1835. President Tyler appointed him secretary of the treasury in 1844. After the close of the
Tyler administration, he practiced law in Washington City, and was an assistant in the office of
the attorney-general. He was author of "Reports of Cases at Common Law and in Chancery in the
Kentucky Court of Appeals" (1808-11). He died in Georgetown, D. C., April 14, 1859.
[Page 262]
Pope, John, born in Prince William county, Virginia, in 1770, son
of William Pope, captain in the revolution and colonel of militia, and Penelope Edwards, his
wife. he lost an arm by accident when a boy. He removed to Kentucky, and was a United States
senator from that state; from 1829 to 1837 was territorial governor of Arkansas; died at
Springfield, Kentucky, July 12, 1845. He had a son Nathaniel, who was a United States judge in
Illinois, and father of Major-General John Pope, U. S. A. The Pope family had its origin in
Nathaniel Pope, who settled in Maryland as early as 1637, and removed to Virginia (see vol. i, p. 306).
[Pages 262-263]
Ravenscroft, John Stark, born near Blandford, Prince George
county, Virginia, May 17, 1772, son of Dr. John Ravenscroft and Lillias Miller, his wife. his
parents removed to Scotland, and he was educated at excellent schools there and in England. In
January, 1789, he returned to Virginia on family business, and entered Maryland with the
intention of studying law, but soon returned to Scotland, settled his father's disordered estate,
again returning to Virginia and taking up with a country life in Lunenburg county. His religious
principles were unfixed until 1810, when he connected himself with the "Republican Methodists."
This connection did not last long, and he later connected himself with the Protestant Episcopal
church, in which he was licensed as a lay reader, in February, 1816. He was invited to the
rectorate of St. James' Church, in Mecklenburg county, before he was received into the ministry,
and he was ordained deacon by Bishop Richard C. Moore, in April, 1817, and priest by the same
prelate, a month later. The same year he declined a call to Norfolk, and to become assistant of
Bishop Moore, in the monumental Church, Richmond. At this time he was elected first bishop of
North Carolina, and was consecrated in St. Paul's Church, Philadelphia, May 22, 1823. In order to
supplement his salary, he was also rector of Christ Church, Raleigh, for five years. He attended
the general convention in Philadelphia in August, 1829, and on his return home, gradually
declined, and died, in Raleigh, North Carolina, March 5, 1830. He receive the degree of D. D.
from William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia.
[Page 263]
Robertson, Thomas Bolling, born near Petersburg, Virginia, in
1773, son of William Robertson, of the council of state (born 1750, died 1829), and Elizabeth
Bolling, his wife, a descendant of Pocahontas. He graduated at William and Mary College in 1807,
became a lawyer, and engaged in practice in his native place. In 1807 he received from President
Jefferson the appointment of secretary for the new territory of Louisiana, and, after its
admission to the Union as a state, was its first member of congress, and was three times
re-elected, serving from December 28, 1812, to 1818, when he resigned, on account of ill-health
and an increased dislike for a congressional life. Soon afterwards he was elected governor of
Louisiana, and after serving the constitutional term, resumed the practice of his profession in
New Orleans, but was soon made attorney-general of the state, and, shortly afterwards, United
States district judge for Louisiana. His health was now greatly broken, and he returned to his
Virginia home, to pass his remaining days. He was in France during the last days of the empire,
and, while there, wrote remarkably interesting letters to his family, which were published in the
Richmond "Enquirer," and afterwards reprinted in book form. He died, at White Sulphur Springs,
Virginia, November 5, 1828. He was brother of Wyndham Robertson, lieutenant and acting governor
(q. v.).
[Page 263]
Warrock, John, born in Richmond, Virginia, November 4, 1774. He
received a common-school education, became a printer, and for forty years issued annually
"Warrock's Almanac." He was chosen to the office of printer to the Virginia senate, and held that
place for more than forty years. He died March 8, 1858.
[Page 263]
Allen, Robert, born in Augusta county, Virginia, in 1777. He was a
merchant, and after settling in Carthage, Tennessee, about 1804, became clerk of the county
court. In the war of 1812, he served with distinction as a colonel under Jackson. From 1819 till
1827 he was a member of congress. He died near Carthage, Tennessee, August 19, 1844.
[Pages 263-264]
Turner, Edward, born in Fairfax county, Virginia, November 25,
1778. He was educated at Transylvania University and studied law. In 1802 he emigrated to
Mississippi and settled in Natchez, where he began the practice of his profession. The governor
of the territory appointed Turner his aide-de-camp, and soon afterward he became clerk of the
territorial house of representatives, also acting as the governor's private secretary. In 1803 he
was appointed register of the land-office, and in 1811 he was elected to the legislature from
Warren county. He was chosen city magistrate of Natchez and president of the board of select-men
in 1813, and after 1815 was sent for several terms to the legislature as a representative from
Adams county. In 1818 he was elected to the first legislature that assembled under the state
government, and, except for one year, when he was attorney-general of the state, during which
time he was twice elected speaker. he was appointed judge of the criminal court of Adams county
in 1822, in 1824 judge of the supreme court of Mississippi, and in 1829 chief justice, which
place he held until he was superseded by the amended constitution of 1832. He was chancellor of
the state from 1834 till 1839, in 1840 was again elected judge of the supreme court, and at the
expiration of his term in 1843 was chosen to the state senate. Judge turner was appointed in 1815
by the legislature to prepare a digest of the statue laws of the territory, which was completed
and adopted in 1816. This digest contains all the statutes in force at that period, and is
entitled "Statutes of the Mississippi Territory" (Natchez, 1816). He died in Natchez,
Mississippi, May 23, 1860.
[Page 264]
Ashley, William H., born in Powhatan county, Virginia, about 1778.
He received a public school education, and in 1808 located in Upper Louisiana (now Missouri),
where he became brigadier-general of militia. He was an enterprising fur trader and in 1822
organized a company of three hundred men which went to the Rocky Mountains, and made trading
relations with the Indians, and he realized a handsome fortune therefrom. He was
lieutenant-governor of Illinois in 1820, and a congressman from Missouri, from 1831 to 1837. He
died near Booneville, Missouri, March 26, 1838.
[Page 264]
Brodnax, William H., descended from Robert Brodnax, a goldsmith of
London and a native of Godmersham, county Kent, England, and son of William Brodnax, who was a
student at William and Mary College in 1761. He studied at Hampden-Sidney College, from which he
received the honorary degree of A. M. in 1830; studied law under Judge Sterling Ruffin, of North
Carolina; settled in Dinwiddie county, Virginia, and practiced in the counties of Brunswick,
Greensville, Dinwiddie and the city of Petersburg. He was brigadier-general of Virginia militia,
and chief marshal at Yorktown, when La Fayette visited there in 1824; member of the Virginia
legislature for many years, and of the state convention of 1829-1830, favoring a bill in 1832 for
the gradual abolition of slavery; and active member of the Virginia African Colonization Society;
presidential elector in 1825. He died in Dinwiddie county, October 23, 1834. He married Ann
Eliza, daughter of Thomas Withers.
[Pages 264-265]
Forsyth, John, born in Frederick county, Virginia, October 22,
1780, a son of an Englishman who fought in the American army during the war of the revolution. He
was fur years of age when the family removed to Georgia, and after proper preparation was sen tot
Princeton, from which he was graduated in the class of 1799. He then took up the study of law,
and was admitted to the bar at Augusta, Georgia, in 1802, In 1808 he was elected
attorney-general, and was subsequently elected to a seat in congress as a representative of the
Democratic party, serving from 1813 until 1818, in which year he became United States senator. He
resigned this office in 1819, having been appointed minister to Spain, and conducted the
negotiations which resulted in the cession of Florida to the United States senator to fill the
vacancy caused by the resignation of J. M. Berrien. he opposed nullification, voted for the
Compromise act of Henry Clay in 1833, and supported Jackson in the debate regarding the removal
of deposits from the United States bank. In 1832 he was a delegate to the Anti-Tariff Convention,
held in Milledgville, Georgia, but withdrew on the ground that it did not fairly represent the
people of Georgia. June 27, 1834, he resigned from the United States senate, to become secretary
of state under President Jackson, and continued to serve under Van Buren until March 3, 1841. He
died in Washington, D. C., October 21, 1841.