USA > Virginia > The history of the Virginia federal convention of 1788, with some account of eminent Virginians of that era who were members of the body, Vol. II > Part 36
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367 COLONEL JOHN LOGAN, a doughty Indian-fighter.
364 HENRY PAWLING was, a representative of Lincoln county in 1792, under the first Constitution of Kentucky.
369 GREEN CLAY, son of Charles Clay, was born in Powhatan county, Virginia, August 14, 1757. He was of the family of Henry Clay. He went to Kentucky when a youth, entered the office of James Thomp- son, and became a proficient surveyor. His occupation gave him the opportunity to acquire a large and valuable landed estate. He was a . member of the Convention of 1799, which formed the present Consti- tution of Kentucky, and long represented Madison county in each branch of the Legislature. Appointed a Brigadier-General March 29, 1813, he led 3,000 Kentucky volunteers to the relief of Fort Meigs and forced the enemy to withdraw. General Harrison left him in the com-
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mand of Fort Meigs, which he skilfully defended from the attack of a large force of British and Indians, under General Proctor and Tecumseh. He was the father of Hon. Cassius M. Clay. He died October 31, 1826. Clay county, Kentucky, was named in his honor.
370 GENERAL RICHARD KENNON, third in descent from Richard Ken- non, who settled in Virginia, about 1670, at "Conjuror's Neck," about five miles below Petersburg, Virginia: entered the army of the Revo- lution as Lieutenant in the Fifth Virginia Regiment; promoted at the battle of Monmouth ; served throughout the war ; appointed by Presi- dent Jefferson first Governor of Louisiana Territory; died in that State, aged forty-four years; member of the Cincinnati; married Elizabeth Beverley, daughter of Robert and Anne (Beverley) Munford, of "Rich- land," Mecklenburg county, Virginia.
311 WILLIS RIDDICK was a member of the Virginia Conventions of' 1775-'76, and served long in the Virginia Assembly.
372 WILLIAM CLAYTON was a descendant of John Clayton, a Burgess from James City county in 1723; Attorney-General of the Colony in 1724; Judge of the Court of Admiralty; died November IS, 1737, in the seventy-second year of his age. A manuscript volume of his opinions has been preserved. William Clayton was a Burgess from New Kent in 1769, member of the House of Delegates 1776, and mem- ber of the Virginia Convention of 1776.
373 COLONEL BURWELL BASSETT, JR., of "Eltham," New Kent county, Virginia, was a nephew of Mrs. George Washington; member of the House of Delegates of Virginia 1789, 1819-'20; of State Senate 1798-'99, 1802-'3; member of Congress 1805-'13, 1815-'19, and IS21-'31 ; died February 26, 1841, aged seventy-six years and eleven months.
374 DR. WALTER JONES was born in Virginia in 1745; graduated at William and Mary College in 1760; studied medicine in Edinburgh, Scotland, and received the degree of M. D .; on his return to Virginia he settled in Northumberland county and became eminent as a scholar and physician. In 1777 he was appointed by Congress Physician-Gene- ral of Hospitals in the Middle Department; was a representative in Congress from Virginia from 1797 to 1799, and again from 1803 to ISII. He was at one time a "Free Thinker," but his views were subsequently entirely changed, and he embraced the Christian faith, after which he wrote a lengthy volume denouncing his former views, and stating with clearness the grounds on which he did so. This was done for the satis- faction and the gratification of his children. He died in Westmoreland county, Virginia, December 31, 1815.
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375 WILLIAM RONALD was a native of Scotland and. a brother of General Andrew Ronald, a prominent lawyer of Richmond, Virginia, who was one of the counsel representing the British merchants in the so-called British Debts case, in which the debtors were represented by Patrick Henry.
376 GENERAL ROBERT LAWSON was a gallant and meritorious officer of the Revolution.
377 THEODORICK BLAND was born in Virginia in 1742, and was the uncle of John Randolph, of Roanoke. Graduated M. D. in Edinburgh, Scot- land, and practiced his profession for a time in Williamsburg, com- bining with it, as was the custom in the towns of Virginia in that day, the keeping of an apothecary or dispensary. At the commencement of the Revolution he entered the army, and rose to the rank of Colonel of Dragoons. In 1779 he had command of the troops at Albemarle barracks, and continued in that station till elected to Congress in 1780, where he served three years. He was then chosen a member of the Virginia Legislature. He was a representative in the first Congress under the Constitution. He died at New York June 1, 1790, while attending a session of Congress. He was the first member of Congress whose death was announced in that body: and although buried in Trinity church-yard, the sermon in the church was preached by a pastor of the Dutch Reformed denomination. He was present at the battle of Brandywine, and enjoyed the confidence of General Washing- ton. He was of worthy lineage and a man of culture. His corre- spondence with eminent men, under the title of The Bland Papers, was edited by Charles Campbell (author of a history of Virginia), and published in two volumes, Svo., in IS43.
378 EDMUND RUFFIN, fourth in descent from William Ruffin, who was seated in the Isle of Wight county in 1666, and died 1693. He was the son of Edmund Ruffin by his first marriage with Mrs. Edmunds, née Simmons (he married secondly Elizabeth Cocke, of Surry county), and was born January 2, 1744-'45; died in 1807; was a member of the House of Delegates 1777. 1784. 1785, and 1787; County Lieutenant 1789 ; Sheriff 1797; married Jane, daughter of Sir William Skipwith, Baronet, of "Prestwould," Mecklenburg county. Their grandson, Ed- mund Ruffin, of Prince George and Hanover counties, born January 5, 1794, was the eminent agriculturist, who volunteered in the late war between the States, and is said to have fired the first gun in the reduc- tion of Fort Sumter. Under mental depression, caused by the failure of the Confederacy, he committed suicide June 15, 1865.
379 CAPTAIN THOMAS BULLITT was a meritorious officer under Wash- ington in the French and Indian war. Cuthbert Bullitt was probably of the same family. He was a Judge of the State Court.
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380 The ancestor of the WALKE family of Virginia was Anthony Voelke (anglicized Walke), who accompanied William, Prince of Orange, to England in 16SS, and came to Virginia in 1693. His grandson, ANTHONY WALKE, the member, was a worthy citizen and pious churchman. He built the church still standing near Norfolk and known as Old Donation Church He married twice-first, Jane, daughter of William Randolph ; second, Mary Moseley, a granddaughter of Bishop Gilbert Burnett. He died in 1794. His colleague, THOMAS WALKE, was of the same lineage.
381 JOHN DAWSON graduated at Harvard University in 1782; was a Presidential Elector in 1793; member of Congress 1797-ISI4; was fre- quently in the Virginia Legislature ; was a member of the Executive Council of Virginia ;'rendered service in the War of IS12 as Aid to the Commanding General on the Lakes, and was appointed bearer of dis- patches to France in ISor by President John Adams. He died in Washington, D. C., March 30, 1814, aged fifty-two years.
382 The progenitor of the COCKE family of Virginia was Richard Cocke, who emigrated from Leeds, Yorkshire, England, in 1636, and settled at "Malvern Hills," Henrico county, the locality of a san- guinary battle of the name during the late war between the States. Richard, a grandson of the emigrant, married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Hartwell, who was Clerk of the General Court in 1675, and one of the trustees in the charter of William and Mary College, February S, 1692, O. S. From this couple was descended the member, JOHN HART- WELL COCKE.
383 The ancestor of the member, JOHN ALLEN, was Major Arthur Allen, who patented lands in 1649 in Surry county. He was the grand- son of Colonel john Allen, of " Clermont." He was a member of the House of Delegates in 1784, '86, '87, 'SS, and '91 ; a member of the Council, and died before 1799.
384 JOHN HOWELL BRIGGS, the son of Gray Briggs a native of Ireland, was a member of the House of Delegates 1786-'88, and of the Council in 1789. His sister, Eliza, married Colonel William Heth, of the Third Virginia regiment, a gallant officer of the Revolution, who enjoyed the friendship of Washington, by whom he was appointed Collector of the Ports of Richmond, Petersburg, and Bermuda Hundred. He was removed in 1802, being succeeded by John Page. He died in May, 1807. His brother, John Heth, was a Lieutenant in the Revolution ; and his sister, Margaret, married General Robert Porterfield.
385 THOMAS EDMUNDS was the son of John Edmunds. who died Febru- ary 8, 1770, and who had represented Sussex in the House of Burgesses from the creation of the county. William Edmunds (probably the · father of John Edmunds) died in Sussex, March 9, 1739-'40.
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386 COLE DIGGES was the grandson of Cole Digges, a Burgess in 1718 ; member of the Virginia Council in 1724, and subsequently its President, and who was the son of Edward Digges (fourth son of Sir Edward Digges, of Chelburn, Kent, England, Master of the Rolls and M. P.), President of the Council of Virginia, and Acting Governor of the Colony, 1665-'66. His son, Edward Digges, also served in the Council, and his daughter, Mary, was the first wife of Nathaniel Harrison, of "Wakefield."
3ST RICHARD CARY was born in Elizabeth City county. He is said to have served for a time in the Revolution, on the staff of Washington ; Judge of the Court of Admiralty of Virginia in 1777, and subsequently of the Court of Appeals. He was a man of cultivated tastes, and was fond of botanical studies, in which he acquired much proficiency.
388 It may be of interest to note that of the forty-nine members of the Phi-Beta-Kappa Society, organized at William and Mary College December 5, 1776, nine were members of the Convention of 1788: John Jones, John Stuart, Littleton Eyre, John Allen, BUSHROD WASH- INGTON, William Cabell, Archibald Stuart, John Marshall, Stevens Thomson Mason, and a tenth, if Hartwell Cocke and John Hartwell Cocke may be identified as the same individual. Another member, John James Beckley, was the Secretary of the Convention. The Society was an admirable nursery of patriots and statemen, as the distinguished careers of others of its members has given evidence.
389 JOHN BLAIR was the son of John Blair, President of the Council, and Acting Governor of Virginia in 1758; grandson of Dr. Archibald Blair, a brother of Commissary James Blair, President of William and Mary College. He was born in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1732 ; graduated at William and Mary College ; studied law at the Temple, London ; a Burgess in 1765; and on the dissolution of the House in 1769, he, with Washington and other patriots, drafted the "Non-importa- tion Agreement " at "Raleigh Tavern." He was one of the committee in June, 1776, which drew up the plan for the government of the State ; was elected a Judge of the Court of Appeals, then President of the Court, and, in 1780, Judge of the High Court of Chancery. He was a Delegate to the Philadelphia Convention to Revise the Articles of Con- federation. He supported the "Virginia Plan." In September, 1789, he was appointed by Washington a Judge of the United States Supreme Court, resigned in 1796; died in Williamsburg August 31, ISoo.
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ARCHIBALD STUART.
The Hon. A. H. H. Stuart was engaged in the preparation of the following sketch for this work, in emendation and enlarge- ment of that by Dr. Grigsby, given ante (pages 10-15), when he was stricken with fatal illness, dying February 13, 1891. Whilst it is to be regretted that it is incomplete, it is invested with peculiar interest as being the final literary and a filial task of his nobly useful life. His son-in-law, Alexander F. Robertson, Esq., writes me that "he made a great effort to complete it." It is received just in time to add finally to the text of the work previously in print .- EDITOR.
R. A. BROCK, EsQ .:
My Dear Sir : Sickness, accompanied by a nervous affection of my right hand, which rendered it impossible for me to write legibly, prevented me during the summer and autumn months from preparing the "sketch" of my father, "Archibald Stuart," which I promised you. I have read with great interest and satisfaction your publication founded on Mr. Grigsby's lecture. But there are some errors and omissions which I desire to correct and supply, and also some notes as to his ancestry.
First, I wish to state that Archibald Stuart, Sr., his grandfather-the first of the family who came to America-was a young Irishman of respectable family, who lived not far from Londonderry. He was a man of good education, as evidenced by the fact that his will, written by himself, and now in the office of Augusta county, dated 1759 and recorded 1761, presents, both in style and handwriting, unquestionable proof that he was a man of education. He was a man of intelligence and deep religious convictions and great energy of character. In early life he married Janet Brown, a sister of John Brown, who afterwards became a Presbyterian minister in Virginia. By her he had two chil- dren while living in Ireland-viz., a son, named Thomas Stuart, and a daughter, named Eleanor.
About 1725-'26 the persecutions of the Presbyterians and other "dis- . senters" became so intolerable that Archibald Stuart, with others,
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became active promoters of an avowed insurrection or rebellion to defend their rights. The military power of the Government was invoked to suppress it, and when that was done Archibald Stuart was one of those proscribed, and if he could have been arrested would have been executed for treason.
Being thus compelled to fly for his life, he managed with great diffi- culty to make his escape to the coast, where he contrived to get on board a ship bound for America, leaving his wife and two children behind him. He reached America in safety and took refuge in the wilds of Western Pennsylvania, where he remained in concealment for seven years. Finally there was some act or proclamation of amnesty, which enabled him to send for wife and children to join him in Penn- sylvania. During his seclusion in Pennsylvania he had been diligently making provision for his family, so as to be ready to receive them. In 1732 his wife and children came over, under the escort of her brother, John Brown, and joined Archibald Stuart in his new home in Penn- sylvania. They remained in Pennsylvania for about seven years, and during that time two other children were born-viz., Alexander and Benjamin.
After the proclamation of the Governor of Virginia in 1738, granting freedom of religious opinions and worship to immigrants who would move to the Valley of Virginia and protect the western frontier of Vir- ginia against the incursions of the Indians, Archibald Stuart, with his family, removed to Virginia, accompanied or followed by John Brown, and settled permanently in Augusta county. Archibald Stuart, being a sagacious business man, acquired large and valuable tracts of land and other property, which not only enabled him to live in comfort, but also to give to his children the best opportunities for education which the circumstances would allow, and to convey to each of them by deed or will a valuable estate in land.
The three sons of Archibald Stuart married in early life daughters of prominent settlers of the Valley. His daughter, Eleanor, also married Edward Hall, the son of a neighbor, and left a large family. Among her descendants were Dr. Isaac Hall, who graduated at Edinburgh Medical College in the latter part of the last century, and settled in Petersburg, Virginia, where he became eminent as a physician ; Judge John Hall, of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, and many others who became distinguished. One of her daughters married Captain Andrew Fulton, an officer in the Revolutionary War, and among the offspring of this marriage were Hon. John H. Fulton, of Abingdon, who was for several terms representative of that district in Congress, and Hon. Andrew S. Fulton, for many years judge in the Wythe district.
All the sons of Archibald Stuart, Sr., left large families, the members of which in turn intermarried with families of the vicinage, until they were closely allied to the Pattersons, Moffets, McClungs, Fultons,
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Tates, Tylers, Halls, Guthries, Alexanders, Withrows, Watkinses, Douglases, Moores, Steeles, McDowells, and many others of the best standing in this part of the Valley.
John Brown, Mrs. Stuart's brother, also married and settled in Augusta county. His wife was a daughter of John Preston, and the fruit of this marriage was five sons. He studied divinity at Princeton, became pastor of Providence church, and held that position for forty- four years, and was the second rector of Liberty Hall Academy. Late. in life be removed to Kentucky, where his sons attained high distinc- tion, one of them (James) having served as United States senator and afterwards as Minister to France; and another was the ancestor of the late B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri.
At an early day, after Archibald Stuart had established himself in Augusta, two of his brothers, named David and John, came over from Ireland. Of them I know but little, except that they were men of high character and intelligence. David was the ancestor of the Stuarts of Greenbrier county. John, after remaining some time in Virginia, removed to Kentucky. Among his descendants were John T. Stuart, of Springfield, Illinois, who was at an early age a prominent member of Congress (having beaten Stephen A. Douglas in an earnestly-con- tested race), and subsequently a very distinguished lawyer. He was a partner of Abraham Lincoln in the practice of law, and when he died was the subject of a noble funeral oration by ex-Judge David Davis, of the Supreme Court of the United States.
I have thus disjointedly jotted down some of the facts connected with the ancestry and family connections of Archibald Stuart. I have done so because of late years I have received many letters from all parts of the country making inquiries on the subject.
As has been already stated, Archibald Stuart, Sr., left three sons to survive him-viz., Thomas, who was born in Ireland, and Alexander and Benjamin, who were born in Pennsylvania after his wife and chil- dren joined him there.
Thomas was a prominent man in Augusta county, and is the person of that name referred to by Mr. Grigsby as one of the founders of Liberty Hall Academy. Benjamin was the youngest son, and is repre- sented to have been a man of admirable character and fine intellect. He inherited the family mansion of his father and lived a quiet life, not taking any active part in public affairs. He married, and left a number of children.
Of these two members of the family I do not deem it necessary to say anything more than that they lived honorable and useful lives.
Alexander Stuart. Sr., was the second son of Archibald Stuart, Sr., the fugitive emigrant from Ireland. He was born during the sojourn of his parents in Pennsylvania, and came with them at the age of four years to Augusta county, where he was reared to manhood. He received a common-school education, and his letters show that he wrote and spelled correctly and was versed in arithmetic and the sim-
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pler branches of niatliematics. At the age of twenty he married Mary Patterson, the daughter of a Scotch-Irish farmer of the neighborhood. By her he had two sons-Archibald and Robert-and a number of daughters. For some time after his marriage he lived in Augusta, about three miles northwest from Waynesboro'. Subsequently he removed to a farm, which his father had given him, lying in what is now Rockbridge county, near Brownsburgh. Having lost his wife, he married a second time. His second wife was a young widow lady, a Mrs. Paxton, whose maiden name had been Moore. By her he had two sons and a number of daughters. The sons were named Alexander and James. Alexander Stuart, Sr., my grandfather, is the person referred to by Mr. Grigsby as Captain Alexander Stuart, one of the founders of Liberty Hall Academy. He seems to have been deeply impressed with the importance of education, and as he had four sons to educate he took an active part in causing the academy to be removed from its original location in Augusta county to a point near Timber Ridge church, which would bring it much nearer to his residence. To that end he and his neighbor, Samuel Houston (the father of President Samuel Houston, of Texas), offered to the trustees a donation of forty acres of land each, and liberal subscriptions in money, if they would remove the academy to the place indicated by them. This offer was accepted and the removal accomplished. The four sons of Alexander Stuart were educated at the academy after its transfer to the new loca- tion. Archibald, the oldest son of Captain Alexander Stuart, having exhibited a strong thirst for knowledge while a pupil at Liberty Hall Academy, and more than ordinary capacity to acquire it, he made known to his father his wish to adopt the law as his profession. This suggestion being approved, his father determined to send him to Wil- liam and Mary College to obtain the best education that could then be had in Virginia. He accordingly went to William and Mary about 1777, and continued there until 1781. During a large portion of his sojourn at college he was an inmate of the family of Bishop Madison, the president of the college. He thus had opportunities of seeing the best society of the city and of becoming acquainted with many of the gentlemen who were prominent in the councils of the State, Williams- burg being the seat of government.
Meanwhile the struggle for independence of the Colonies was pro- gressing, and when the seat of government was transferred to the South by the invasion of Cornwallis the militia troops of the Valley and Southwestern Virginia were called into active service and ordered to proceed to the South to join the army of General Greene. Among these was the regiment of which Colonel Samuel McDowell, a gallant and distinguished officer, was colonel, and which consisted mainly of troops from Augusta and Rockbridge. Colonel McDowell was a man of high character, a brave and experienced officer, but unfortunately some time before the battle of Guilford Courthouse he had an attack of malarial-fever, which unfitted him for active service in the field, and
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the command of the regiment devolved on Major Alexander Stuart, who was the senior officer in the absence of Colonel McDowell. This regiment was composed mainly of the flower of the young men of the Valley, who fought with the enthusiasm of patriots and the steadiness of veterans. They were stationed at a point particularly exposed to the fire of the British artillery, and suffered greatly. In my early youth and manhood I was personally acquainted with a number of men who participated in the battle, and heard from their lips many interesting incidents connected with it. Among these was the late General Samuel Blackburn, of Bath county ; Rev. Samuel Houston, of Rockbridge ; David Steele, of Augusta ; and my father, of Augusta.
General Blackburn and my father passed through the fight without injury. Rev. Samuel Houston narrowly escaped death from a musket- ball, which struck the Bible which he had in his knapsack with such force as to penetrate more than half-way through it. David Steele received a sabre-cut, which chipped a small piece from his skull and exposed to view the coating of his brain, which was protected by a small plate of silver attached to the bone. The wound did not seem to have any injurious effect upon him, except perhaps to develop some eccentricities which were observable in his conduct, and he lived to attain the age of seventy-five or eighty years.
Major Alexander Stuart, according to every account, conducted him- self with great gallantry, and two horses were killed under him during the battle. The first casualty occurred in an early stage of the conflict, but he was promptly mounted on another horse and resumed his posi- tion in the field. At a later period of the fight, when the British artillery were brought to bear on the American troops, a shell exploded so near to Major Stuart that the fragments killed the horse on which he was mounted and inflicted a severe wound on himself. Being thus disabled, and his horse having fallen on him, he had not the strength to extricate himself from his entanglements, and was compelled to lie helpless on the field until he was captured and sent as a prisoner to the British hospital, where his wound was properly attended to. When he was well enough to be moved he was transferred, with other prison- ers, to one of the prison-ships on the coast, where he was detained for more than six months, when he regained his liberty by an exchange of prisoners. Meanwhile the condition of things had materially changed. The surrender of Cornwallis soon followed, and active hostilities had ceased.
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