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[Page 305]
      Ellicot, Andrew, born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, January 24, 1754. His father and uncle, who were Quakers, purchased a large tract of wild land on the Patopsco river in 1770, and founded the town of Ellicott's Mills (now Ellicott City). Andrew was a close student of science and practical mechanics, and soon attracted attention, even of Washington, Franklin and Rittenhouse. He was commissioner for marking the boundaries of Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. About 1785 he removed to Baltimore, where he was elected to the legislature. In 1789 Washington appointed him to survey the land lying between Pennsylvania and Lake Erie, and he made the first accurate measurement of the Niagra river from lake to lake, with the height of the falls and the descendent of the rapids. He surveyed and laid out the city of Washington in 1790, and in 1792 was made United States surveyor-general. He superintended the construction of Fort Erie, at Presque Isle (now Erie, Pennsylvania), in 1795, and laid out the towns of Erie, Warren and Franklin. In 1796 he was appointed by Washington as United States commissioner under the treaty of San Lorenzo el Real, to determine the boundary between the United States and the Spanish possessions, and the results of his service, embracing a period of nearly five years, appear in his "Journal" of 1803. Upon its completion he was appointed by Gov. McKean, of Pennsylvania, secretary of the state land office. He resigned in 1808, and in 1812 became professor of mathematics at West Point, where he remained until his death. He went to Montreal in 1817, by order of the government, to make astronomical observations for carrying into effect some of the articles of the treaty of Ghent. He was an active member of the American Philosophical Society, contributed to its transactions, and corresponded with many of the learned societies of Europe. He died at West Point, New York, August 29, 1820.

[Pages 305-306]
      McElligott, James N., born in Richmond, Virginia, October 13, 1812, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He entered in due course the New York University, which he left to become instructor, later vice-principal, and finally principal of the Mechanic's Society Institute. In 1853 he opened a classical school, which he conducted with much success until his death. He published "McElligott's Manual, Analytical and Synthetical, of Orthography and Definition" (1845); "The Young Analyzer" (1849); the "Humorous Speaker" (1853); "The American Debater" (1855). During this time he was also editor of the "Teacher's Advocate" (1848). The series known as "Professor Sanders's" also owes largely its success to his assistance. His last literary work was an introduction to "Hailman's Object Teaching." At the time of his death he was engaged upon a Latin grammar. He spoke French and German fluently and had also made deep researches in Sanskrit lore. In 1840 Yale conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts, in recognition of his "Manual," and in 1852 Harrodsburg College, Kentucky, conferred Doctor of Laws for his "Analyzer." In 1837 he became a candidate for orders in the Presbyterian Episcopal church, but was not ordained. He labored actively among the poor, and was interested in the Ephipany Mission Church, raising a fund for its future support. He was president of the State Teachers' Association. He died in New York City, October 22, 1866.

[Page 306]
      Rice, David, born in Hanover county, Virginia, December 29, 1733; graduated at Princeton College in 1761, studied theology, was licensed to preach in 1762, and was installed as pastor of the Presbyterian church at Hanover, Virginia, in December, 1763. After five years he resigned on account of dissensions among his people, and three years later took charge of three congregations in the new settlements of Bedford county, Virginia, where he labored usefully during the revolution. When Kentucky was opened to the settlement, he went there with his family, and organized in Mercer county (in 1784) the first religious congregation in Kentucky, and opened in his house the earliest school. He was the organizer and chairman of a meeting held in 1785 to institute a regular Presbyterian church organization, and was the principal founder of the Transylvania University. He was a member of the convention that framed a state constitution in 1792. In 1798 he removed to Green county. His wife, Mary, was a daughter of Rev. Samuel Blair. He published an "Essay on Baptism;" a "Lecture on Divine Decrees;" "Slavery Inconsistent with Justice and Policy;" "An Epistle to the Citizens of Kentucky Professing Christianity, those that Are or have been Denominated Presbyterians; and "A Second Epistle to the Presbyterians of Kentucky," warning them against the errors of the day; also "A Kentucky Protest against Slavery." He died in Green county, Kentucky, August 18, 1816.

[Pages 306-307]
      Craig, Lewis, born in Orange county, Virginia, in 1737. There being no ordained minister near to baptize him, he began preaching before his baptism, and without a license as required by law, and was indicted "for preaching the gospel contrary to the law." One of the jurors, John Waller, was so impressed by his conduct during the trial, that he became a convert to the Baptist church and afterwards one of its most zealous preachers. On June 4, 1768, while conducting worship, he was arrested and required by the court to give security not to preach in the county within twelve months. On his refusal he was committed to the Fredericksburg jail, and held for a month, during which time he preached through the prison bars to large crowds. Later he was ordained, and became pastor of a Baptist church. In 1771 he was again imprisoned for three months in Caroline county. In 1781 he removed to Kentucky, where he labored with great success. He died in Kentucky, in 1828.

[Page 307]
      Saunders, John, born in Virginia, in 1754; his grandfather emigrated to Virginia from England, and acquired large landed estates. He received a liberal education, and studied law. In 1776 he raised a troop of horse at his own expense, and joined the royal forces, was subsequently captain of cavalry in the Queen's Rangers, was often in engagements, and was twice wounded. After the war he went to England and practiced law. In 1790 he became a judge of the supreme court of New Brunswick, and was afterward appointed to the council of that colony. In 1822 he became chief justice. He possessed two estates in Virginia, both of which were confiscated. He died in Frederickston, New Brunswick, in 1834.

[Page 307]
      Semple, Robert Baylor, born in King and Queen county, Virginia, January 20, 1769, son of John Semple and Elizabeth Walker, his wife. After receiving a good education, he taught in a private family and then began to study law, but abandoned it and entered the ministry. In 1790 he became pastor of the Bruington Baptist church, in which relation he continued until his death. He made frequent and long preaching tours, and the interests of missions and education found in him a powerful friend. He was financial agent of Columbian College, and president of its board of trustees He declined the president of its board of trustees. He declined the presidency of Transylvania University in 1805, and in 1820 was elected president of the Baptist triennial convention, continuing to hold this office until his death. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Brown College in 1816. He died at Fredericksburg, Virginia, December 25, 1831.

[Pages 307-308]
      Smyth, John Ferdinand D., a British soldier, who came to Virginia, and afterwards settled in Maryland. While visiting the sons of Colonel Andrew Lewis in Virginia, he joined Governor Dunmore's troops, and went with Major Thomas Lewis, in 1774, to the Kanawha, taking part in the battle against the Indians, in which Major Lewis was killed. Returning to Maryland he supported the British government against the patriots so zealously that his house was surrounded by men who threatened his capture. Escaping twice, he fled to Virginia, hiding in the Dismal Swamp, passed the guards at Suffolk, and enlisted in the Queen's Royal Regiment in Norfolk. He and his companion were seized by riflemen at Hagerstown and taken to Frederick, Maryland. Smyth escaped, but was recaptured and imprisoned in Philadelphia, and afterward in Baltimore. Escaping again, he reached a British ship off Cape May, New Jersey, and went to New York and New England. He published "A Tour in the United States of America," in London and Dublin, and in Paris, France. John Randolph, of Roanoke, said: "This book, although replete with falsehood and calumny, contains the truest picture of the state of society and manners in Virginia, such as it was half a century ago, extant."

[Page 308]
      Spence, John, born in Scotland, in 1766; was educated at the University of Edinburgh, but owing to ill health, could not stay to graduate. He came to this country in 1788, settling in Dumfries, Virginia, as a private tutor. Later he engaged in the practice of medicine. He was active in introducing vaccination into the United States. The Pennsylvania gave him the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1828. His correspondence with Dr. Benjamin Rush was published in the "Medical Museum of Philadelphia." He also contributed to the "Medical Repository" and the "American Journal of the Medical Sciences," and left several manuscripts on medical subjects. He died in Dumfries, Virginia, May 18, 1829.

[Page 308]
      Royall, Anne, wife of William Royall, of Virginia, was born in Maryland, June 11, 1769. She was the daughter of William Newport, who went with his family from Maryland to Virginia in 1772, and from thence, in company with other Virginians, to Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1775. Here in the wild woods little Anne grew up an uncommonly bright and intelligent child and was taught to read and write by her mother. She married Captain William Royall, who lived at Sweet Springs, Monroe county, Virginia, an elderly gentleman, who had a fine library, and Anne read all the books and became the most learned woman in all that region. She knew Shakespeare, Goldsmith and Addison by heart. After sixteen years of contented happy married life, Captain William Royall died, and Anne soon after began that active career of travelling and writing which she continued till her death. She spent some time in Alabama and then performed a northern tour, and was a keen observer. Then she began to write. She established in Washington a weekly sheet called the "Paul Pry" and afterwards "The Huntress." She expressed herself freely upon religion, and was prosecuted by a small Presbyterian congregation before Judge Cranch, who sentenced her to be ducked as a common scold, but she was released with a fine. She denounced the anti-Mason craze, and incurred enemies. She retorted upon them in her books, and scandals were spread against her. Nevertheless, she accomplished a most valuable work, perpetuating the description of countless places visited by her and the almost countless people met in her travels. These accounts, except when influenced by personal favor or antipathy, are sensible, shrewd and even eloquent. She was the author of "Sketches of History, Life and Manners in the United States by a Traveller;" "The Tennessean, a Novel founded on Facts;" "The Black Book, or Sketches of History, Life, and Manners in the United States," (three volumes); "A Southern Tour, or a Second Series of the Black Book" (two volumes); and "Letters from Alabama." She died in Washington City, October 1, 1854. Sarah Harvey Porter, in "The Life and Times of Anne Royall," 1909, has given an interesting analysis of her character.

[Pages 308-309]
      Schmucker, John George, a native of Germany, born August 18, 1771. His parents came to Pennsylvania in 1785, and in 1787 settled near Woodstock, Virginia. In 1789 he began to study for the ministry, a year later went to Philadelphia to continue his studies, and was ordained in 1792. After holding several pastorates, he was called to York, Pennsylvania, 1809, and remained until failing health compelled him to retire in 1842. He then went to Williamsburg, Pennsylvania, where several of his children lived, and remained there the rest of his life. In 1825 he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of Pennsylvania. He was one of the founders of the general synod of the Lutheran church in the United States, in 1821; an active supporter of the theological seminary at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and for many years resident of its board of directors. He was also active in the establishment of Pennsylvania College, and for more than twenty-one years was one of its trustees. For more than thirty years he was leader of the Lutheran church in this country, and actively engaged in all its important operations. He was a frequent contributor to periodicals, and a poet of merit. He died in Williamsburg, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1854.

[Page 309]
      Shields, Patrick Henry, born in Prince Edward county, Virginia, May 16, 1773, son of James Shields, whose will was proved in that county, November 28, 1776. In accordance with his father's will, he was given a collegiate education at Hampden-Sidney and William and Mary colleges. He inherited a large tract of land near Lexington, Kentucky, and removed to that state in 1801, but found the title to the estate defective. In 1805 he went to Indiana territory, and joined his classmate and friend, William Henry Harrison. He was made the first judge of Harrison county in 1808. It is said that he fought in the battle of Tippecanoe. His house was often the headquarters of the territorial authorities. He was a member of the constitutional convention at Corydon in 1816, and filled judicial offices until his death. As one of the founders of the state, he took an active part in reforming the territorial courts, in organizing the school system, and in maintaining the congressional ordinance of 1787, which prohibited the indefinite continuance of slavery, though he was at the time himself a slaveholder. According to family tradition, he was the author of the constitutional article which confirmed Indiana as a free state. He died in New Albany, Indiana, June 6, 1848.

[Page 309]
      Wood, John, born in Scotland, about 1775. He was living in Switzerland in 1798, at the time of the French invasion. On returning home, he became master of the Edinburgh Academy for the improvement of arts in Scotland. About 1800 he emigrated to the United States. In 1806 he edited the "Western World" in Kentucky, and in 1817 he had charge of "The Atlantic World," a paper published at Washington, D. C. He afterwards lived in Richmond, Virginia, where he made county maps. Besides other works, he published "General View of the History of Switzerland;" "Letter to A. Addison, Esq., in Answer to his 'Rise and Progress of Revolution;'" "History of the Administration of John Adams," which was suppressed by Aaron Burr, and republished with notes and appendix by John Henry Sherburne; "Narrative of the Suppression by Col. Burr of the 'History of the Administration of John Adams,' with a biography of Jefferson and Hamilton;" "Full Statement of the Trial Acquittal of Aaron Burr." He died in Richmond, Virginia, in May, 1822.

[Page 310]
      Seaton, William Winston, born in King William county, Virginia, a descendant of Henry Seaton, who came to Virginia at the end of the seventeenth century. His mother, whose maiden name was Winston, was a cousin of Patrick Henry. He was educated by Rev. James Ogilvie, the Earl of Finlater, a Scotchman, who conducted an academy in Richmond. When eighteen years of age he engaged in politics, and became assistant editor of a Richmond paper. He next edited the Petersburg "Republican," but soon purchased the "North Carolina Journal," published at Halifax, then the capital of the state. When Raleigh became the capital, he removed t hither and connected himself with the "Register," edited by Joseph Gales, Sr., whose daughter he married. In 1812 he moved to Washington and joined the "National Intelligencer," in company with his brother-in-law, Joseph Gales, Jr., which partnership lasted till the death of the latter in 1860. From 1812 till 1820 Messrs. Seaton and Gales were the exclusive congressional reporters as well as editors of their journal, one taking charge of the proceedings in the senate and the other in the house of representatives. The "Register of Debates" was considered a standard authority. After the death of Mr. Gales, Mr. Seaton was sole editor and manager of the "National Intelligencer" until it was sold, a short time before his death. In 184- he was elected mayor of Washington, and held that office twelve successive years. With Mr. Gales, he published "Annals of Congress: Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States from March 3, 1798, till May 27, 1824" (forty-two volumes, Washington, 1834-56); "Register of Debates in Congress from 1824-1837," (fourteen volumes in twenty-nine, 1827-37); and "American State Papers, selected and edited by Walter Lownë and M. St. Clair Clarke" (twenty-one volumes, 1832-34).

[Pages 310-311]
      Rogers, James Blythe, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 11, 1802, son of Patrick Kerr Rogers, who was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania in 1802, and in 1819 was elected professor of natural philosophy and mathematics at William and Mary, where he remained until his death. James Blythe Rogers was educated at William and Mary College, and, after studying medicine with Dr. Thomas E. Bond, received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the University of Maryland in 1822. He subsequently taught in Baltimore, but soon afterward settled in Little Britain, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and there practiced medicine. Later he returned to Baltimore and became superintendent of a chemical factory, devoted himself to the study of pure and applied chemistry, and became professor of that branch in Washington Medical College, Baltimore, also lecturing on the same subject at the Mechanics' Institute. In 1835 he was called to the same chair in the medical department of Cincinnati College, where he remained until 1839, spending his vacations in field work and chemical investigations in connection with the geological survey of Virginia, then under the charge of his brother William. In 1840 he settled in Philadelphia, and became an assistant to his brother Henry, then state geologist of Pennsylvania. In 1841 he was appointed lecturer on chemistry in the Philadelphia Medical Institute. He was elected professor of general chemistry at the Franklin Institute in 1844, and in 1847 succeeded Robert Hare as professor of chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania. He was a representative at the national medical convention in 1847, and a delegate to the national convention for the revision of the United States Pharmacopœia in 1850, and a member of various learned societies. He contributed papers to scientific journals, and with his brother Robert prepared the seventh edition of Edward Turner's "Elements of Chemistry" and William Gregory's "Outlines of Organic Chemistry."

[Page 311]
      Barclay, James Turner, born in Hanover county, Virginia, in 1807, of Quaker descent from Barclay of Ury, in Scotland; friend of Washington and Jefferson. He was a student at the Staunton Academy and the University of Virginia, and took his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1830 he married Mrs. Julia A. Sowers, of Staunton, Virginia, and bought Monticello, Jefferson's old home, which he occupied for a time, but finally sold. He adopted the religious tenets of Alexander Campbell, and was sent by his sect to Jerusalem as a missionary. He returned after three years, and later made a second journey to Palestine. After the civil war, he was a teacher at Bethany College, and later went to Alabama, where he remained until his death, preaching, writing and teaching. His "City of the Great King" is regarded as the most authentic work relating to Jerusalem. He frequently contributed to the "Millenial Harbinger," the organ of his sect. His daughter Sarah was in Palestine with him, and was a great aid as a sketch artist. It is said that, disguised as a Mohammedan, she gained access to the tomb of David, of which she made an illustration for her father's book. She married J. Augustus Johnson, consul-general to Syria. She published "The Howadji in Syria.

[Page 311]
      Robinson, Fayette, born in Virginia, was author of "Mexico and her Military Chieftains" (Philadelphia, 1847); "Account of the organization of the Army of the United States, with Biographies of Distinguished Officers" (1848); "California and the Gold Regions' (New York, 1849); "Grammar of the Spanish Language" (Philadelphia, 1850); a romance entitled "Wizard of the Wave" (New York, 1853); a translation of Anthelme Brillat-Savarin's "Physiolgie du Gout" (Philadelphia, 1854); and novels from the French. He died in New York City, March 26, 1859.

[Page 311]
      Shreve, Thomas H., born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1808; was educated in the academy there. He engaged in mercantile pursuits, settled in Cincinnati in 1830, and in 1834 purchased a share in the "Mirror," a weekly literary journal. In 1838 he became a merchant in Louisville "Journals." He published "Drayton, and American Tale." Some of his verses are reprinted in William T. Coggeshall's "Poets and Poetry of the West." He died at Louisville, Kentucky, December 23, 1853.

[Pages 311-312]
      Scott, William Cowper, born in Martinsburg, (West) Virginia, January 13, 1817. His father and grandfather were Presbyterian ministers. He graduated at South Hanover College, Indiana, in 1837, and at Union Theological Seminary, Virginia, in 1840; became a clergyman of the same denomination, and was pastor of several churches in his native state until his death, except during two years, when poor health compelled him to cease preaching, and occupied himself with teaching and writing for periodicals. He was author of a work on "Genius and Faith, or Poetry and Religion in their Mutual Relations." He died in Bethesda, (West) Virginia, October 23, 1854.

[Page 312]
      Craig, Lewis S., born in Virginia; entered the army as second lieutenant of the Second Dragoons, October 14, 1837; transferred to Third Infantry, August, 1838, and in March, 1840, made assistant commissary of subsistence. He was promoted to first lieutenant kn June, 1840; to captain in June, 1846; served with distinction in the Mexican war, and was brevetted major for gallant conduct at Monterey, and lieutenant-colonel for Contreras and Cherubusco, where he was wounded. he was killed by deserters while in the performance of his duty, near New River, California, June 6, 1852.

[Page 312]
      Jordan, Robert, a Quaker, born in Nansemond, Virginia, October 27, 1693; he began to preach in 1718; visited Virginia, Maryland, and Carolina, and New England in 1722, and suffered imprisonment. He travelled in Great Britain and the West Indies in 1728-30; made a journey to Barbadoes in 1740; and was in Boston in 1741, returning to Philadelphia, where he died August 5, 1742.

[Page 312]
      McNutt, Alexander, a Scotch-Irishman, who settled in Rockbridge county and served in the French and Indian war as lieutenant. He kept a journal of the campaign which he presented to Governor Fauquier. For some years he resided in Nova Scotia. During the revolutionary war he joined the American army at Saratoga, and was afterwards an office under Baron de Kalb in the South. He died in 1811, and was buried in the Falling Spring churchyard, Rockbridge county, Virginia.

[Pages 312-313]
      Hallam, Lewis, son of Adam Hallam, actor, was born in England about 1714, and was, like his father, an actor by profession. He was sent by his brother, William Hallam, manager of the new theatre in Goodmanfields, London, to conduct the first company of English professionals to America. They arrived at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1752, and gave their first performance in Williamsburg, then the capital of the colony, hiring a large wooden structure erected for a theatre by another company from New York, which had left not long before. Their opening performance was "The Merchant of Venice," and the music was furnished by a single player on the harpsichord. They remained in Virginia about eleven months, playing at different places, and then went to Annapolis and Philadelphia, and in 1754 performed in New York. Two years later they went to the British West Indies, and in that year Lewis Hallam died in Jamaica. His wife, who was an actress at the Goodmanfields Theatre, was born in London, and after the death of Mr. Hallam married David Douglas, his successor in the management. She retired from the stage in 1769 and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1773. Lewis Hallam's son, Lewis, made his first appearance on the stage in Williamsburg at the time of his father's first coming to this country. He was a boy of twelve years of age, and, having only one line to say, was so frightened that he remained speechless till bursting into tears he rushed off the stage. Nineteen years later he came again to Williamsburg and was at his best. His main support was his cousin, the beautiful Miss Sarah Hallam, whose portrait in her rolê of "Imogene"; had been painted by Charles Wilson Peale.

[Page 313]
      Jones, Catlet, born in Virginia, about 1750, accompanied Daniel Boone to Kentucky, and was one of the twelve settlers who rescued Boone's daughter, who had been captured by the Indians, and while guarding the "corn-patch" with Boone was severely wounded. After serving throughout the revolution, he joined the Society of Friends, became a preacher, and in 1801 emigrated to Ohio. He died in Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1829.

[Page 313]
      Hopkins, Samuel, son of Samuel Hopkins and grandson of Dr. Arthur Hopkins, of Goochland county, Virginia, and Elizabeth Pettus, his wife, born in Albemarle county, Virginia, about 1750; was an officer in the Continental army, and fought at Pennsylvania, Trenton, Monmouth, and Brandywine. At the battle of Germantown his battalion of light infantry was nearly annihilated, and he was severely wounded. He was lieutenant-colonel of the Tenth Virginia Regiment at the siege of Charleston, and after the death of Col. Richard Parker became its colonel, serving as such until the end of the war. He was taken prisoner with other officers, at the surrender of Charleston, May 20, 1780. While they were being taken in a British vessel to Virginia, he complained to the captain of harsh treatment and want of food, and threatened to raise a mutiny unless they were treated as officers and gentlemen, which bold language secured proper care during the rest of the voyage. In 1797 he settled on Green river, Kentucky, and served for several sessions in the legislature of that state In 1812 he led two thousand mounted volunteers against the Kickapoo villages on the Illinois river, but the party was misled by the guides, and returned, after wandering for several days about the prairie. In November he led a body of infantry up the Wabash, and destroyed several deserted villages, but lost a part of his force by ambuscade. He returned to Vincennes, after destroying a town on Wildcat creek. He was elected to congress from Kentucky, and took his seat June 26, 1813. After the end of his term, March 2, 1815, he retired to his farm in Hopkins county, which was named for him. He died in Henderson, Kentucky, in October, 1819.

[Pages 313-314]
      Lenoir, William, born in Brunswick county, Virginia, April 20, 1751; removed to Tarborough, North Carolina, and settled near Wilkesborough. At the outbreak of the revolution he was clerk of the Surry county committee of safety. He was lieutenant in Gen. Griffith Rutherford's campaign against the Indians in 1776, and was afterwards a captain in Benjamin Cleveland's regiment against the Tories. AT King's Mountain he was wounded in the arm and side, and at the defeat of Col. Pyle, near Haw river, a horse was shot under him. After the war he was made a justice by congress and afterward by the state assembly, and from 1781 till 1795 a state senator, and presiding officer for five years. He took an active part in the Hillsborough convention for the adoption of the constitution of the United States. At the organization of the state university of North Carolina in 1790 he was chosen president of the board. For the last eighteen years of his life he was major-general of militia. A town and county in North Carolina were named in his honor. He died in Fort Defiance, Wilkes county, North Carolina, May 6, 1839.

[Page 314]
      Meriwether, David, born in Albemarle county, Virginia, in 1754, son of Col. James Meriwether and Judith Hardenia Burnley, his wife; served in the revolutionary war as a lieutenant under Washington, and was present with the Virginia troops at the last siege of Savannah, Georgia; brigadier-general of state militia, October 21, 1797; located in Wilkes county, Georgia, in 1785, and represented that county in the Georgia legislature for several terms, and was speaker of the house, 1797-1800; elected as a Republican to the seventh congress to fill vacancy caused by the resignation of Benjamin Taliaferro; reëlected to the eighth and ninth congresses and served from December, 1802, to March 3, 1807; retired to his plantation near Athens, Georgia; appointed a commissioner to the Creek Indians in 1804, and repeatedly appointed to treat with other tribes; presidential elector in 1817 and 1821; died near Athens, Georgia, November 16, 1822.

[Page 314]
      Nicholas, George, born in Hanover, Virginia, about 1755, son of Robert Carter Nicholas, lawyer, jurist, and statesman, and grandson of Dr. George Nicholas, who immigrated to Virginia about 1700. In 1772 he graduated from William and Mary College. He was major of the Second Virginia Regiment in 1777, later colonel, promoted for meritorious service. He was a member of the Virginia convention that ratified the Federal constitution, was active in the convention, and as a member of the Virginia house of assembly was influential in shaping legislation. In 1790 he moved to Kentucky, and was a member of the convention that met in Danville in 1792, to frame a state constitution. The constitution as adopted was largely his work. He was the first attorney-general elected under its provisions.; He died in Kentucky in 1799.

[Pages 314-315]
      McKendree, William, born in King William county, Virginia, July 6, 1757. Soon after his birth, the family removed to Greenville county, and in 1810 to Sumner county, Tennessee. At the beginning of the revolution, William, then twenty years of age, joined a company of volunteers, was for some time adjutant, and was at Yorktown at the surrender of Cornwallis. After the war he would never accept a pension. After leaving the army he was a school teacher. Before leaving home he had become connected with the Methodist church, and soon after 1787, when he was living in Brunswick county, Virginia, he was licensed to preach, and in 1788 Bishop Asbury appointed him as junior preacher to Mecklenburg circuit. After this he served upon neighboring circuits, and in 1793 was sent to South Carolina, but returned the next year. For three years he had charge of a large district extending from Chesapeake Bay to the Blue Ridge and Alleghany mountains. In 1800 he went with Bishop Asbury and Bishop Whatcoat to the western conference at Bethel, Kentucky. He was appointed to superintend a district embracing a large part of the partially settled territory beyond the Alleghany mountains, and so passed the next eight years with a yearly pittance of twenty to less than fifty dollars. In the great revival of those years, out of which grew the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, he was a directing spirit, and it is claimed that he, more than any other man, saved that great work from degenerating into a wild and ruinous fanaticism. He continued to preside over this work til the spring of 1808, when he was elected and ordained bishop. His first episcopal tour of fifteen hundred miles extended through Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri and Illinois. At the general conference of 1816 he found himself left, by the death of Bishop Asbury, the only bishop of the church, but two additional bishops were then chosen. He continued to labor till 1835, when his health failed. He was never married, never received a collegiate diploma, nor left even a brief record of his eventful life. He died in Sumner county, Tennessee, March 5, 1835.