USA > Virginia > Some prominent Virginia families, Volume II > Part 27
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I (author) visited Shockoe Cemetery, June 8, 1904, and saw the handsome tombstone erected by the Colonial dames. This is the inscription :
Here lies the body of ELIZABETHI BYRD NICHOLAS
Born December 16, 1830 Died July 30, 1901. An Honored Officer
of the National Society The Colonial Dames of America By whom this stone is erected in affectionate and Grateful Memory.
FIFTH GENERATION.
V. Margaret Trotter® (Elizabeth R. Nicholas+, Georgea, Robert2, George1), daughter of Elizabeth Randolph Nicholas and James Gabriel Trotter, of Lexington, Ky. Married John Fowler Lcary. Issue :
I. James Trotter Leary®, Capt. U. S. A. Married Madge Williams, of Washington, D. C. Issue :
I. Madge Leary7.
II. Eleanor Leary®. Married Richard Woolscy Tyler, Major U. S. A. Issue :
I. Richard Knickerbocker Tyler™.
II. Margaret Knickerbocker Tyler7.
III. Eleanor Leary Tyler7. Married James Walter Pilling, of Washington, D. C.
IV. Margaret Knickerbocker Tyler7. Married J. H. Churchill Clark, of Ky. Issue :
I. Margaret Knickerbocker Clark8.
III. Cary Ann Leary". Married Wallace G. Bone. Issue :
I. Richard Wallace Bone, Washington, D. C.
V. Captain Wilson Cary Nicholas (John4, Wilson Cary3, Robert2, George1), son of John Smith Nicholas and Esther Good- win Stevenson, his wife.
Captain Wilson Cary Nicholas5, late of the Maryland Line Confederate States Army, was distinguished for his dash and gal-
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lantry during our Civil War, in which he served during its early years as a captain in the First Maryland Infantry, under Stuart and Bradley Johnson, participating in first Manassas, Jackson's Valley campaign, and in all the engagements in which that noted regiment took part up to the time it was mustered out in the fall of 1862. Later on Captain Nicholas won fresh distinction as an officer of the Maryland Cavalry, where he served up to the time of the surrender. Among those now living of that gallant band of Marylanders, "who left their homes and those they cherished" to fight for "Dixie," no one is better known or more beloved than Capt. "Willie Nicholas." Shortly after his return from the war, he married Augusta Moale, daughter of Col. Samuel Moale of Baltimore.
Atamasca, his beautiful home, he inherited from his aunt, the widow of John Patterson, a brother of Mme. Bonaparte. This fine old place, containing nearly 1,000 acres of land, is at the head of the beautiful Green Spring Valley, and is considered one of the finest and most fertile estates in the country. The picturesque old mansion, built more than a century ago, lies almost within a stone's throw of historic St. Thomas Protestant Episcopal Church. Herc, surrounded by his interesting family, Captain Nicholas lives the life of a country gentleman, farming his broad acres with skill and industry, and dispensing an old- fashioned Maryland hospitality. His sons, members of the Green Spring Valley Hunt, are among the most noted gentlemen riders in the country. Col. Wilson Cary Nicholas and Augusta Moale, his wife, have issue :
I. John Patterson Nicholas". Married Daisy Fraser.
II. Wilson Cary Nicholas6.
III. Samuel Moale Nicholas6.
IV. Thomas Jefferson Nicholas®.
V. Randolph Nicholas6.
VI. Mary Nicholas®.
VII. Nancy Nicholas®.
VIII. Cary Anne Nicholas®.
V. John Smith Nicholas" (John4, Wilson Cary3, Robert?, George1), son of John S. Nicholas and Esther Stevenson, his wife; b. May 3rd, 1839. Married (1873) Mary Stewart Lawlor. He dicd, Sunday, September, 1905, at his residence, New Brunswick, New Jersey, leaving his widow and eight children. Issuc :
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I. Esther Stevenson Nicholas", b. 1874. Married (1898) Drury W. Cooper. Issue :
I. Drury W. Cooper7.
II. Esther Stevenson Nicholas Cooper™.
III. Mary Cooper".
IV. Elizabeth Cooper7, b. Aug. 11, 1906.
II. Robert Carter Nicholas", b. 1875. Married (1904) Roberta Johnson, of New Brunswick, New Jersey. Issuc :
I. Roberta Johnson, b. Aug. 14, 1905.
III. Eleanor Lawlor Nicholas", b. 1877.
IV. John Burke Nicholas", b. 1879.
V. Mary Lawlor Nicholas", b. 1881.
VI. Elizabeth Ridgely Nicholas6, b. 18 -.
VII. Wilson Cary NicholasG.
VIII. William Stuart Nicholas", b. -. He went to Annapolis in 1906. An elderly officer told him he hoped he would leave as clean a record as his grandfather.
V. George Stevenson Nicholas5 (John+, Wilson Cary3, Robert2, George1), son of John Smith Nicholas and Esther Goodwin Stevenson, his wife; b. Nov. 7, 1840. Married (1869) Elizabeth Purdy, of New York, and is a merchant there (1905) ; address, 44 Park Avenue. Issue :
I. Mary Nicholas", deceased.
II. John Nicholas", deceased.
III. Elizabeth Teackle Nicholas".
IV. George Nicholas".
V. Grosvenor Nicholas6.
VI. Ridgely NicholasG.
VII. Virginia Nicholas6.
V. Augusta Campbell Nicholas5 (John4, Wilson Cary3, Robert2, George1), daughter of John Smith Nicholas and Esther Goodwin Stevenson, his wife. Married (1868) Edward de Russy, of New Brunswick, New Jersey. Mrs. de Russy d. a few years ago, leav- ing issue :
I. John Jay de Russy".
II. Charles Amédée de Russy6.
III. Julia Wells de Russy".
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VIRGINIA FAMILIES
V. Harry Ingersoll Nicholas5 (John+, Wilson Cary3, Robert2, George1), son of John Smith Nicholas and Esther Goodwin Stevenson, his wife. Married Alice Hollins, of New York. They have issue :
I. Nina Nicholas®.
II. Alice Nicholas".
III. Daisy Nicholas6.
IV. Maud Nicholas". Married Captain Niles, of Boston.
V. Elsie Nicholas6. Married. Alonzo Potter, son of Bishop Potter. Issue :
I. Henry C. Potter7.
VI. Harry Ingersoll Nicholas6.
VII. Beatrice Nicholas6.
VIII. Marguerite Nicholas".
IX. Evelina Nicholas6.
The following begins another branch.
King Carter married Judith Armistead.
Elizabeth Carter married, first, Nathaniel Burwell; second, Dr. George Nicholas1.
II. John Nicholas2 (George1), second son of Elizabeth Carter and Dr. George Nicholas, of Seven Islands. He was clerk of Albe- marle, 1749 to 1815; burgess, 1756-58, and of the Conventions of 1774-75, of Buckingham Co., Va. Married Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel Joshua Fry, of Williamsburg, Va. Issue :
I. Col. John Nicholas3. Married Louisa Carter.
II. Elizabeth Nicholas3, d. unmarried.
III. George Nicholas3. Married Nannie Scott.
IV. Robert Carter Nicholas3. Married Martha, widow of Daniel Scott.
V. Margaret Nicholas3. Married --- Rose.
VI. Martha Nicholas3. Married Edward Scott.
VIT. Joshua Nicholas?, of Ky. Married Miss McGehee.
THIRD GENERATION.
III. Col. John Nicholas3 (John2, George1), son of John Nicholas and Elizabeth Fry, his wife, member of the Buckingham Co., Va., Committee of Safety, 1774; burgess, 1774; member of the Convention, 1775. Married Louisa Carter. Issue :
I. Lonisa Nicholas4.
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II. Mary Nicholas4.
III. Nelson Nicholas4.
IV. George Nicholas4. Married Miss Stannard. Issuc :
I. Georgina Nicholas5. Married Mr. Buffington.
II. Mary Ellen Nicholas5. Married Mr. Buffington.
V. Virginia Nicholas4. Married Francis Lightfoot, of Sandy Point.
III. George Nicholas3 (John2, George1), third child of John Nicholas and Elizabeth Fry. Married Nannie Scott, and had issue :
I. Margaret Nicholas4. Married Col. Walter Fontaine, and d. -
II. Virginia Nicholas4. After her sister's death, married Col. Walter Fontaine.
IV. Lorenzo Nicholas4. Married Martha Ayres. Issuc :
I. George H. Nicholas5. --
II. John W. Nicholas5.
V. Frances Nicholas+. Married William Scott. Issue :
I. Betty Scott5.
II. Edward Scott5.
III. Robert Carter Nicholas3 (John2, George1), son of John Nicholas and Elizabeth Fry, his wife; of Seven Islands, Bucking- liam Co., Va. Married Martha, widow of Danicl Scott.
I. Robert Carter Nicholas4. Married Miss O. Bigclow.
II. John S. Nicholas4. Married Ann Trent.
III. George W. Nicholas4. Married Miss F. Bigelow.
III. Margaret Nicholas3 (John2, George1), daughter of John Nicholas and Elizabeth Fry, his wife. Married - Rose. Issue :
I. Robert Rose4.
II. John Rosc4.
III. Park Rose4, and others.
III. Martha Nicholas3 (John2, George1), daughter of John Nicholas and Elizabeth Fry, his wife. Married Edward Scott, of Mannintown. Issuc :
I. John Scott4.
II. Martha Scott+. Married Dr. Royster.
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VIRGINIA FAMILIES
FOURTH GENERATION.
IV. Robert Carter Nieholas+ (Robert3, John2, George1), son of Robert Carter Nicholas and Mrs. Martha Seott, his wife. Mar- ried Miss O. Bigelow. Issue :
I.
Robert Carter Nieholas4.
II. Martha Nicholas4. Married D. U. Barziza, of Texas.
III. Hampden Nieholas4. Married Miss W. S. Carrington. Issue :
I. Aliee Nieholas5.
II. Jane Nicholas5.
III. Robert C. Nicholas5.
IV. Martha Nicholas5, and others.
IV. John S. Nicholas4 (Robert8, John2, George1), son of Robert Carter Nieholas and Mrs. Martha Scott, his wife. Married Ann Harrison Trent. Issue :
I. Elizabeth C. Nieholas5. Married E. T. Page. Issue :
I. Nannie Page".
II. Mary Page".
III. Nieholas Page".
IV. Edward Page6.
V. Bettie Page".
II. Nannie T. Nicholas5. Married Thomas D. Jellis, of Lynehburg. After her death married Kate Ambler, daughter of Philip Saint George Ambler, of Amherst Co., Va.
III. Willie Harrison Nicholas5. Married Philip Barbour Am- bler. (Issue Volume I, Chapters V, VI, and VII.)
IV. John S. Nicholas5. Married Ella Cary Ambler. (Volume I, Chapters VI and VII.)
V. William Trent Nicholas5, deeeased.
VI. Robert Carter Nicholas5. Married Mary Carrington.
IV. George W. Nieholas+ (Robert3, John2, George1), son of John S. Nicholas and Mrs. Martha Scott, his wife; married Miss F. Bigelow. Issue :
I. Henry B. Nieholas5, d. Fredericksburg, 1862.
II. Philip Norborne Nicholas5. Married L. Bigclow. Issue :
I. George Nieholas".
II. Philip Nicholas".
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III. Bigelow NicholasG.
IV. Reuben Nicholas6. V. Henry Nicholas6. III. Laura Nicholas5.
IV. Belle Nicholas5.
MRS. JEROME BONAPARTE Nee Elizabeth Patterson, of Baltimore, Md.
PATTERSON AND BONAPARTE FAMILIES.
Col. John Spear1 had a son, William Spear2, who married and had issue :
Mary Spear3. Married Judge Nicholas.
Daughter Spear3. Married Gen'l Samuel Smith.
Dorothy Spear3. Married William Patterson, father of Mrs. Elizabeth Patterson4 Bonaparte.
John Patterson4. Married Mary Buchanan Nieholas.
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VIRGINIA FAMILIES
William Patterson, b. November 1, 1752, married (May 15, 1779) Dorothy Spear, daughter of William Spear, b. September 15, 1761; d. May 20, 1814.
Jerome Bonaparte had served under General Le Clerc (Pauline Bonaparte's first husband) in Santo Domingo, and after carrying dispatches home to France had gone to Martinique -to command a frigate. About 1803 he was invited to Baltimore, and there at the house of Samuel Cherry, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, he met Elizabeth Patterson, then eighteen. Mr. William Patterson was a frugal, thrifty, well-to-do business man of strict integrity in business matters.
Miss Patterson was desirous of seeing the distinguished French- man, and Jerome's curiosity was piqued, as the prettiest girl in Baltimore had been sent to Virginia in order to be kept out of his way. The young lady contrived to attend the city races, and came face to face with her fate.
Jerome was an ardent wooer; the maid was willing to be won, as it had been predicted that she was to wed a distinguished French- man, "a prince in disguise," and on the twenty-ninth day of Oc- tober, 1803, a license for this marriage was issued. A hitch oc- cured, however, and the marriage did not take place till Christmas eve, bishop John Carroll, brother of Charles Carroll of Carroll- ton, tying the knot in accordance with the ritual of the Roman Catholic Church.
Bonaparte, who had other views anent the career of his brother, was highly incensed at the marriage. On the 20th of April he caused the French minister of marine to write to the French consul, at New York, his resolution "that no money shall be advanced on the order of Citizen Jerome," and to prohibit all captains of French vessels from receiving on board the young person "to whom Citizen Jerome has connected himself," and to insist on Jerome's return to France by the first French frigate. Such were the wishes of the "First Consul," whose inflexibility can be compared to notli- ing but the vastness of his conceptions.
It was not until March 31st, 1805, that Jerome embarked at Baltimore, on board the Erin, with his wife, for Spain. They had set sail on the previous August, but had been wrecked. Madam Bonaparte's wadded pelisse nearly proved her destruction, as its weight kept her under water; but a sailor fished her up, and shortly
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afterward at a hospitable farmhouse she scandalized her aunt by enjoying roast goose and apple-sauce instead of kneeling in prayer and thanksgiving.
Arrived in Spain, Jerome quitted his wife and proceeded to Paris : and on the 3rd of May, 1805, the report of the annulling of the mar- riage reached Philadelphia. Mrs. Bonaparte arrived in London, where, at Camberwell, July 7th, 1805, was born her son, Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte.
Napoleon offered a pension of 60,000 francs a year if Miss Pat- terson would return to America and not take the name of Bona- parte. On the 12th of August, 1807, Jerome, who had been spurned by the Queen of Etruria, was married to the Princess Frederica Catherine, of Wurtemberg.
Only once afterwards did he ever meet his American wife: in the gallery of the Pitti Palace, at Forence, in 1821. He was with his second wife.
Mr. Patterson behaved very harshly to his daughter, and in dying only bequeathed her some houses and his cellar of wine. Jerome sent her a thousand guineas on the birth of their son; he subsequently offered her, after his second marriage, the Principality of Smalcald, with $40,000 a year-an offer declined in the words, "Though Westphalia may be a considerable kingdom, it is not large enough for two queens."
Napoleon was so pleased with this answer that he offered to befriend her. She asked to be created a duchess, which was prom- ised, but the promised was never carried out. He forwarded her $20,000 in cash, and allowed her an annuity of $12,000 till he abdicated, permitting her to sign receipts "Eizabeth Bonaparte."
Jerome taunted her with accepting money from his brother, but she retorted that she preferred the shelter under the wing of an eagle to shelter under the wing of a goose.
Talleyrand said, "If she were a queen, with what grace she would reign"; and Gortschakoff, then a diplomatic debutant, ob- served, if she had been "near the throne the allies would have found it more difficult to depose Napoleon."
Her son, Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte, was b. 1805; d. 1870; was graduated at Harvard in 1826, and studied law, but never practiced. He married the daughter of a wealthy resident of Rox- bury, Mass., Susan Mary Williams. They had issue of two sons. Jerome Napoleon, b. 1830, and Charles Joseph, b. June 9, 1851.
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Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte graduated at West Point. He had a decided taste for military life, which pleased his grandmother. He served, first, in the United States Army; later as a lieutenant in the French Army. The young man displayed great bravery at Balaklava, Inkerman, and at the siege of Sevastopol he won the Crimean medal from Queen Victoria. Until his death he fought in the courts of France for his right to a place in the imperial line. The French allowed him the title of Prince Napoleon, but to it were attached no privileges and he spent the latter part of his life in the United States. He died in 1893.
When King Jerome Bonaparte died in June, 1857, he said nothing in his will whatever of his first marriage. Madame Bona- parte applied for a share of the estate, but her claims were not allowed in the French Courts. To recognize her rights to a share of the will of her husband would have been tantamount to recog- nizing her as a member of the imperial family, which would have complicated the succession to the throne.
Madam Bonaparte lived a secluded life the latter part of her life. She was a woman of intense vitality, and though several times, notably in 1838, her life was despaired of, she recovered to repeat her favorite prediction that she would live a hundred years. She died on April 4, 1879, at the ripe age of ninety-four.
The following article came out in Munsey's Magazine, Septem- ber, 1905 :
THE NEW SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.
In accepting the office of Secretary of the Navy, Charles Joseph Bona- parte, of Baltimore, did what a good many other Americans have shown a creditable readiness to do-he gave to the public service, time and abilities worth far more than his official stipend. Of course, apart from the attraction of a high and honourable post, it is not difficult to find a motive for his action in his strong sense of duty, and especially in his warm personal friendship for the President.
No member of the Roosevelt Cabinet, with the possible exception of Mr. Root, stands closer to the President than Secretary Bonaparte. As was said at the time of Mr. Paul Morton's appointment, Mr. Roosevelt has shown a strong tendency, in selecting his most responsible advisers, to gather about him men whom he personally knows and trusts. The tendency is a natural and an entirely justifiable one.
His acquaintance with Mr. Bonaparte grew out of their mutual interest in the movement for civil service reform. In the days when Mr. Roosevelt
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was a member of the Civil Service Commission, the two men were thrown together frequently in working for a cause in which both have always been earnestly devoted. Another tie between them is the fact that both are Harvard men-though they were not contemporaries at college, Mr. Bona- parte having finished his academic course and graduated from the law school two years before the President matriculated.
CHARLES J. BONAPARTE Secretary of the Navy of the United States. Grandson of Jerome Bonaparte, the youngest brother of Napoleon
A lifelong resident of Baltimore, the new Secretary of the Navy is known outside of his native city almost entirely through the fight he has made for purity in municipal government and in the entire public service. He is a Republican, but a most independent one, for he has been equally active in opposing corruption in both parties. His present portfolio is practically his first office, for he has been entirely outside of the Republican organiza- tion of his State since he entered public life-though since his elevation to a Cabinet post the local "machine" has shown its willingness to recog-
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nize his leadership. Some time ago he acted for a few months as supervisor · of elections in Maryland, at the urgent request of a Democratic Governor. He has also served during the last three years as an Indian commissioner -a work which he undertook at Mr. Roosevelt's special request in order to investigate and correct serious irregularities in the conduct of the bureau. He has never been a candidate for anything except when he was nominated as a Presidential elector in the campaign of 1904. The result showed the esteem in which-aristocrat as his opponents are pleased to term him-he is held by the mass of voters, for he received more ballots than any other elector from Maryland; though the other Republican nominees were defeated.
Mr. Bonaparte is a man whom professional politicians of both parties cordially dislike. He is absolutely impervious to criticism or compliment of the usual sort. A trait that may perhaps be significant of his Napoleonic ancestry in his thorough enjoyment of a good fight.
In his professional work as a lawyer nothing gives him more pleasure than an opportunity to exercise the gift of repartee, which he possesses to perfection. As a public speaker he is not exactly eloquent, although his command of language is ready and wide. He is lacking in personal mag- netism, an element so necessary to the most successful oratory, but he uses the weapons of wit and sarcasm as few other men can. In his hands they are as kecn as a Damascus blade, as his political opponents well know. He can force the attention of his audienec, whether it agrees with him or not, compelling it to admire him for the sweeping way in which he overwhelms his adversaries.
In his private life the new secretary is a typical Baltimorean of the old school. When not at work in his modest office it has been his custom to divide his time between his town house and his country placc.
Mr. Bonaparte's friends and associates include such men as Cardinal Gibbons, Dr. Daniel Gilman, and other Baltimoreans eminent in the intellectual life. Outside of the political movements that he has most closely at heart, he is probably as deeply interested in the progress of the church to which he belongs as in anything else.
He is a leading adviser of Cardinal Gibbons, and one of the most noted and influential Roman Catholic laymen in the United States. His personal tastes are of the quietest. He is seldom seen at places of amusement, and very rarely at social functions, except the receptions of such bodies as the Civil Service Reform Association or some other assemblage where his presence is necessary for public reasons.
While Mr. Bonaparte has just completed the fifty-fourth year of his age, he might be taken for a much younger man.
His appearance strongly suggests his descent from the youngest brother of the great Napoleon, although this is a subject which he never discusses, being far prouder of his American citizenship.
Mr. Bonaparte-the only survivor in the American line of the young French officer who afterwards became King of Westphalia-at once attracts attention by his inheritance of the Napoleonic features. He has a clear,
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ruddy complexion, bronzed from outdoor exposure, with jet-black hair and eyes. His attire is usually black. He prefers the umbrella to the cane, and this habit increases his resemblance to a studious professor or learned doctor. .
Married Ellen Channing Day, of Newport, Rhode Island, in 1875. No issue.
Mrs. Bonaparte is a refined and cultivated lady; she is a gracious and tactful hostess. Indeed, there is a strong resemblance between the Secre- tary's wife and the Mistress of the White House.
Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte3, son of Jerome Napoleon Bona- parte2 and Susan May Williams, his wife, married, 1871, Caroline Le Roy Edgar. Issue :
I. Louise Eugenie Bonaparte4, b. 1873. Married (1896) Count Adam Molke-Huitfeldt, of Denmark.
II. Jerome Napoleon Charles Bonaparte+, b. 1878; unmarried.
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VIRGINIA FAMILIES
CHAPTER XI
A NARRATIVE OF MY LIFE FOR MY FAMILY.
BY FRANCIS T. BROOKE.
'Tis pleasant to recall our former days, What we have been, and done, and seen, and heard, And write it down for those we love, to read.
To my beloved Daughter, HELEN,
Who has been my amanuensis in preparing this family narrative, has written about two-thirds of it from my dictation, and aided me essentially in completing it-I now affectionately dedicate it, with my paternal blessing.
NARRATIVE.
I was born on the 27th of August, 1763, at Smithfield, the residenee of my beloved father, upon the Rappahannock, four miles from Fredericksburg. Tradition said it was ealled Smith- field after Capt. John Smith, otherwise ealled Pocahontas Smith; but as there is nothing in the histories of Virginia stating that Capt. Smith was ever so high up the Rappahannock, I think that tradition 'was in error. I think it was so called after a Capt. Laurenee Smith, who, in 1679, had a military commission to defend the frontier against the Indians in that region. It was an estate belonging to one Tanner, who was in England, and authorized his agent to sell it, and it was bought by my grand- father, Taliaferro, who then resided at Epsom, the adjoining estate, and he gave it to my mother-God bless her. The estate now belongs to Mr. Thomas Pratt, the old house in which I was born is burnt down, and he has built a new one, not so large, and higher up the river. When I was a boy these were the traees of a fortifi- cation, including a fine spring, as a defence against Indians.
My father was the youngest son of my grandfather, who eame to this country, with a Mr. Beverley, at the time Gov. Spotswood eame, about the year 1715; he became the Surveyor of the State,
23
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and was with the Governor when he first crossed the Blue Ridge, for which he received from the Executive a medal, a gold horse shoe set with garnets, and worn as a brooeh, which I have seen in the possession of Edmund Brooke, who belonged to the oldest branch of the family.
My father's name was Richard Brooke. He left four sons and -
a daughter by my mother, and a fifth son by his second wife; he died aged sixty of gout in the stomach, in the year 1792. He was a handsome man (as may be seen by his pieture whieli I have) ; with great vivaeity of spirits; he read much; had a good library of the books of that age. He sent my two eldest brothers, Laurence and Robert, at an early age, to Edinburgh College, where they were educated for the two learned professions, Medicine and Law, and did not return to this country until the revolution had progressed. They got over to France and Dr. Brooke was appointed by Dr. Franklin Surgeon of the "Bon Homme Richard," commanded by the celebrated John Paul Jones, and was in the battle with the Serapis, and all the battles of that memorable eruise.
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