American Colonization Society (ACS), founded December 28, 1816, in U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC.  The American Colonization Society had numerous auxiliaries in cities including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, Alexandria, Baltimore, Augusta, Savannah, Fayetteville, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill, Wilmington, Norfolk, Petersburg, Portsmouth, Hampton, and Lynchburg.   Smaller auxiliaries were also located in Harper’s Ferry, Jefferson County, Shepardstown, Harrisonburg, New London, Virginia, and in Prince Georges County and Leonard Town, St. Mary’s County, Maryland.  It had many prominent officers, members and supporters throughout the United States, including political, social and religious leaders.  (References)  

• Officers, Members and Supporters of the American Colonization Society
• State and Local Auxilliaries (Societies) of the American Colonization Society
• Newspapers that Supported the American Colonization Society
• Serial Publications that Supported the American Colonization Society
• Agents for the American Colonization Society

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Officers, Members and Supporters of the American Colonization Society

Allen, Moses, New York, New York, Vice-President, 1833-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Allison, Burgess, 1753-1827, clergyman.  Chaplain, U.S. House of Representatives. Founding charter member of the American Colonization Society, Washington, DC, 1816.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 58; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

ALLISON, Burgess, clergyman, b. in Bordentown, N. J., 17 Aug., 1753; d. in Washington, 20 Feb., 1827. He became a convert to the Baptist faith early in life, and began to preach when he was sixteen years old. He studied at Rhode Island college (now Brown university) in 1777, and subsequently had charge of a small congregation at Bordentown, N. J., where he established a classical boarding-school, which attained great reputation. In 1796 be withdrew from his teaching and devoted his time for several years to inventing. Some improvements in the steam-engine and its application to navigation are due to his efforts. In 1801 be resumed his school, and soon afterward his pastorate, but ill health compelled him to relinquish both. He was elected chaplain of the house of representatives in 1816, and later became chaplain at the navy-yard, Washington, where he remained until his death. Dr. Allison had considerable mechanical and artistical ability. He was for some time one of the secretaries of the American philosophical society, and was a constant contributor to periodical literature. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Andrew, James O., North Carolina, Vice-President, 1836-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Andrus, Joseph R., Reverend, clergyman, agent of the American Colonization Society.  Went to Africa to establish a colony.  He died on the expedition.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 62)

Archer, Samuel, 1771-1839?, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, merchant, importer.  Philadelphia auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 39)

Ashmun, George, 1870-1823, Massachusetts, statesman, lawyer, Congressman.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 111)

ASHMUN, George, statesman, b. in Blandford, Mass., 25 Dec., 1804; d. in Springfield, Mass., 17 July, 1870. He was graduated at Yale in 1823, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1828 at Springfield, Mass. In 1833, 1835, 1836, and 1841 he was elected a member of the lower branch of the Massachusetts legislature, and during the last term he was speaker of the house. He was a state senator in '38-'9. He was elected to congress in 1845, and served continuously until 1851, being a member of the committees on the judiciary, Indian affairs, and rules. He was a great admirer of Daniel Webster, and although he did not follow the latter in his abandonment of the Wilmot proviso, defended him in the ensuing quarrels; his replies to Charles J. Ingersoll, of Pennsylvania, and Charles Allen, of Massachusetts, when they assailed Webster with personal and political bitterness, were among the strongest efforts of his career in congress. Subsequent to his retirement from political life he devoted his attention to the practice of his profession. In 1860 he was president of the Chicago convention that nominated Lincoln for president. It is said to have been through his influence that in 1861 Senator Douglas, of Illinois, was won over to the support of the administration, and the results of a subsequent interview at the White house between Lincoln, Douglas, and Ashmun, were of great importance to the country. In 1866 he was chosen a delegate to the national union convention, held in Philadelphia, but he took no part in its deliberations. He was also for some time a director of the Union Pacific railroad. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I.

Ashmun, Jehudi, 1794-1828, Washington, DC, educator, editor, missionary.  Published The African Intelligencer, a paper for the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 111; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 1, p. 394; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 73-74, 94-95, 101, 150-162)

ASHMUN, Jehudi, missionary, b. in Champlain, N. Y., in April, 1794 ; d. in Boston, Mass., 25 Aug., 1828. He was graduated at the university of Vermont in 1816, taught for a short time in the Maine charity school, prepared for the Congregational ministry, and became a professor in the Bangor theological seminary. Removing to the District of Columbia, he united with the Protestant Episcopal church and became editor of the “Theological Repertory,” a monthly magazine published in the interest of that church. His true mission was inaugurated when he became agent of the colonization society, and took charge of a reënforcement for the colony at Liberia, on the western coast of Africa. He sailed 19 June, 1822, and found the colony in a wretched state of disorder and demoralization, and apparently on the point of extinction through incursions of the neighboring savages. With extraordinary energy and ability he undertook the task of reorganization. In November he was attacked by a force of savages, whose numbers he estimated at 800. With only 35 men and boys to help him, he repelled the attack, which was renewed by still greater numbers a few days later, with a like result. He displayed remarkable personal valor throughout these encounters, and when, six years later, his health compelled him to leave Africa, he had established a comparatively prosperous colony 1,200 strong. He died almost immediately after his arrival in the United States. He was author of “Memoirs of Samuel Bacon” (Washington, 1822), and of many contributions to the “African Repository.” His life was written by R. R. Gurley (New York, 1839). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Ashton, Henry, colonel, soldier.  Manager and Vice President of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 208)

Atkinson, William, Petersburg, Virginia, Resident Agent for the American Colonization Society.  Worked with Secretary Gurley.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 109-179)

Aycrigg, John B., Paramus, New Jersey, Director, 1839-40.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Ayres, Eli, Dr., Baltimore, Maryland.  Agent of the American Colonization Society.  Went to Africa on its second expedition to establish a colony there.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 8, 11, 18, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 51, 54; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 62-68 passim, 85, 86, 87, 90-91, 111)

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Bacon, Leonard, Reverend, 1802-1881, Detroit, Michigan, clergyman, newspaper editor, author, opponent of slavery.  Supporter of the American Colonization Society in New England.  Editor of the Christian Spectator, 1826-1838.  In 1843, helped establish The New Englander, where he wrote many anti-slavery articles.  (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 129-130; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 1, pp. 473, 479; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 77-79, 119-120, 126, 127, 130-131, 134, 161, 204, 205, 231)

BACON, Leonard, clergyman, b. in Detroit, Mich., 19 Feb., 1802; d. in New Haven, Conn., 24 Dec., 1881. He was graduated at Yale in 1820, and studied theology at Andover. In March, 1825, he was ordained pastor of the 1st church in New Haven, and continued in this office until his death—fifty-seven years. From 1866, being relieved of the main burden of pastoral work, he occupied the chair of didactic theology in Yale until 1871, and thereafter was lecturer on ecclesiastical polity and American church history. He was a representative of the liberal orthodoxy and historic polity of the ancient New England churches. His life was incessantly occupied in the discussion of questions bearing on the interests of humanity and religion. Probably no subject of serious importance that came into general notice during his long career escaped his earnest and active attention. A public question which absorbed much of his thought after 1823 was that of slavery. His constant position was that of resistance to slavery on the one hand, and of resistance to the extravagances of certain abolitionists on the other; and he thought himself well rewarded for forty years of debate, in which, as he was wont to say of himself, quoting the language of Baxter, that, “where others had had one enemy he had had two,” when he learned that Abraham Lincoln referred to his volume on slavery as the source of his own clear and sober convictions on that subject. He was a strong supporter of the union throughout the civil war, and took active part in the various constitutional, economical, and moral discussions to which it gave rise. He was influential in securing the repeal of the “omnibus clause” in the Connecticut divorce law. In March, 1874, he was moderator of the council that rebuked Henry Ward Beecher's society for irregularly expelling Theodore Tilton, and in February, 1876, of the advisory council called by the Plymouth society. During his later years he was, by general consent, regarded as the foremost man among American Congregationalists. He became known in oral debate, in which he excelled, by his books, and preeminently by his contributions to the periodical press. From 1826 till 1838 he was one of the editors of the “Christian Spectator.” In 1843 he aided in establishing “The New Englander” review, to which he continued to contribute copiously until his death. In that publication appeared many articles from his pen denouncing, on religious and political grounds, the policy of the government in respect to slavery. With Drs. Storrs and Thompson he founded the “Independent” in 1847, and continued with them in the editorship of it for sixteen years. He had great delight in historical studies, especially in the history of the Puritans, both in England and in America. Besides innumerable pamphlets and reviews, he published “Select Works of Richard Baxter,” with a biography (1830); “Manual for Young Church-Members” (1833); “Thirteen Historical Discourses” on the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the 1st church in New Haven (1839); “Views and Reviews; an Appeal against. Division” (1840); “Slavery Discussed in Occasional Essays” (1846); Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Bacon, Samuel, 1782-1820, Sturbridge, Massachusetts, lawyer, clergyman, soldier, editor.  Agent for the American Colonization society.  He later became an employee of the U.S. government.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 132; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 56-63 passim)

BACON, Samuel, clergyman, b. in Sturbridge, Mass., 22 July, 1781; d. in Kent, Cape Shilling, Africa, 3 May, 1820. He was graduated at Harvard in 1808, and then studied law, which he subsequently practised in Pennsylvania. For a time he edited the “Worcester Ægis,” and later the Lancaster, Pa., “Hive,” and then was ordained in the Protestant Episcopal ministry. In 1819 he was appointed by the U. S. government one of three agents to colonize Africa with negroes, under the auspices of the American colonization society. The expedition sailed for Sierra Leone, reaching that port on 9 March, 1820, and a settlement was made at Campelar, on the Sherboro river. Here his two associates died, and he in declining health was removed to Kent, where his last days were spent. See “Memoirs of Rev. Samuel Bacon,” by Jehudi Ashmun (1822).  Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Baird, Robert, Reverend, 1798-1863, Princeton, New Jersey, clergyman.  Officer, New Jersey auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 142-143; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 1, p. 511; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 55)

BAIRD, Robert, clergyman, b. in Fayette co., Pa., 6 Oct., 1798; d. in Yonkers, N. Y., 15 March, 1863. He was graduated at Jefferson college, Pa., in 1818, and taught a year at Bellefont, where he began his career as a newspaper writer. He studied theology at Princeton, 1819-'22, and taught an academy there for five years, preaching occasionally. In 1827 he became agent in New Jersey for the American Bible society, engaged in the distribution of Bibles among the poor, and also labored among the destitute churches of the Presbyterian denomination as an agent of the New Jersey missionary society. In 1829 he became agent for the American Sunday-school union, and travelled extensively for the society. In 1835 he went to Europe, where he remained eight years, devoting himself to the promotion of Protestant Christianity in southern Europe, and subsequently to the advocacy of temperance reform in northern Europe. On the formation of the foreign evangelical society, since merged in the American and foreign Christian union, he became its agent and corresponding secretary. In 1842 he published “A View of Religion in America” in Glasgow. In 1843 he returned home, and for three years engaged in promoting the spread of Protestantism in Europe. In 1846 he visited Europe to attend the world's temperance convention in Stockholm and the meeting of the evangelical alliance in London, and on his return he delivered a series of lectures on the “Continent of Europe.” In 1862 he vindicated in London before large audiences the cause of the union against secession with vigorous eloquence. Among his other published works are a “View of the Valley of the Mississippi” (1832); “History of the Temperance Societies” (1836); “Visit to Northern Europe” (1841); “Protestantism in Italy” (Boston, 1845); “Impressions and Experiences of the West Indies and North America in 1849 (Philadelphia, 1850), revised, with a supplement, in 1855; “History of the· Albigenses, Waldenses, and Vaudois.” French, Dutch, German, Swedish, Finnish, and Russian translations were made of the “History of the Temperance Societies,” and French, German, Dutch, and Swedish translations of the “View of Religion in America.” See “Life of the Rev. R. Baird,” by H.M. Baird (New York, 1865). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Baker, Samuel, Dr., Maryland, professor.  Manager and charter member of the Maryland State Colonization Society.  (Campbell, 1971, p. 20)

Balch, Stephen B., Georgetown, DC, American Colonization Society, Founding officer and Board of Managers, 1816, Manager, 1833-34.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 26, 28, 30)

Baldwin, Simeon, Judge, 1761-1851, New Haven, Connecticut.  Member of the American Colonization Society committee in New Haven.  Secretary of the Connecticut Society for the Promotion and Freedom and for the Relief of Persons Holden in Bondage.  (Dumond, 1961, p. 47; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 149; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 86)

Bancroft, George, b. 1800, Hampshire County, historian.  Member of the Hampshire County auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 154-156 ; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 196)

BANCROFT, George, historian, b. in Worcester, Mass., 3 Oct., 1800. He is a son of the Rev. Aaron Bancroft. He was prepared for college at Exeter, N. H., was graduated at Harvard in 1817, and went to Germany. At Göttingen, where he resided for two years, he studied German literature under Benecke; French and Italian literature under Artaud and Bunsen; Arabic, Hebrew, and Scripture interpretation under Eichhorn; history under Planck and Heeren; natural history under Blumenbach; and the antiquities and literature of Greece and Rome under Dissen, with whom he took a course of Greek philosophy. In writing from Leipsic, 28 Aug., 1819, to Mrs. Prescott, of Boston, Dr. Joseph G. Cogswell remarks: “It was sad parting, too, from little Bancroft. He is a most interesting youth, and is to make one of our great men.”

In 1820 Bancroft was given the degree of Ph. D. by the university of Göttingen. At this time he selected history as his special branch, having as one of his reasons the desire to see if the observation of masses of men in action would not lead by the inductive method to the establishment of the laws of morality as a science. Removing to Berlin, he became intimate with Schleiermacher, William von Humboldt, Savigny, Lappenberg, and Varnhagen von Ense, and at Jena he made the acquaintance of Goethe. He studied at Heidelberg with the historian Schlosser. In 1822 he returned to the United States and accepted for one year the office of tutor of Greek in Harvard. He delivered several sermons, which produced a favorable impression; but the love of literature proved the stronger attachment. His first publication was a volume of poems (Cambridge, 1823). In the same year, in conjunction with Dr. Joseph G. Cogswell, he opened the Round Hill school at Northampton, Mass.; in 1824 published a translation of Heeren’s “Politics of Ancient Greece” (Boston), and in 1826 an oration, in which he advocated universal suffrage and the foundation of the state on the power of the whole people. In 1830, without his knowledge, he was elected to the legislature, but refused to take his seat, and the next year he declined a nomination, though certain to have been elected, for the state senate. In 1834 he published the first volume of his “History of the United States” (Boston). In 1835 he drafted an address to the people of Massachusetts at the request of the young men’s democratic convention, and in the same year he removed to Springfield, Mass., where he resided for three years, and completed the second volume of his history. In 1838 he was appointed by President Van Buren collector of the port of Boston. In 1844 he was nominated by the democratic party for governor of Massachusetts, and received a very large vote, though not sufficient for election. After the accession of President Polk, Mr. Bancroft became secretary of the navy, and signalized his administration by the establishment of the naval academy at Annapolis, and other reforms and improvements. This institution was devised and completely set at work by Mr. Bancroft alone, who received for the purpose all the appropriations for which he asked. Congress had never been willing to establish a naval academy. He studied the law to ascertain the powers of the secretary, and found that he could order the place where midshipmen should wait for orders; he could also direct the instructors to give lessons to them at sea, and by law had power to follow them to the place of their common residence on shore. With a close economy, the appropriation of the year for the naval service would meet the expense, and the secretary of war could cede an abandoned military post to the navy. So when congress came together they found the midshipmen that were not at sea comfortably housed at Annapolis, protected from the dangers of idleness and city life, and busy at a regular course of study. Seeing what had been done, they accepted the school, which was in full operation, and granted money for the repairs of the buildings. Mr. Bancroft was also influential in obtaining additional appropriations for the Washington observatory and in introducing some new professors of great merit into the corps of instructors, and he suggested a method by which promotion should depend, not on age alone, but also on experience and capacity; but this scheme was never fully developed or applied. While secretary of the navy Mr. Bancroft gave the order, in the event of war with Mexico, to take immediate possession of California, and constantly renewed the order, sending it by every possible channel to the commander of the American squadron in the Pacific; and it was fully carried into effect before he left the navy department. No order, so far as is known, was issued from any other department to take possession of California. See “Life of James Buchanan,” by G. T. Curtis, vol. i. During his term of office he also acted as secretary of war pro tem. for a month, and gave the order to march into Texas, which caused the first occupation of Texas by the United States. From 1846 to 1849 Mr. Bancroft was minister to Great Britain, where he successfully urged upon the British ministry the adoption of more liberal laws of navigation and allegiance. In May, 1867, he was appointed minister to Prussia; in 1868 he was accredited to the North German confederation, and 1871 to the German empire, from which he was recalled at his own request in 1874. While still minister at Berlin he rendered important services in the settlement with Great Britain of the northwestern boundary of the United States. In the reference to the king of Prussia, which was proposed by Mr. Bancroft, the argument of the United States, and the reply to the argument of Great Britain, were written, every word of them, by Mr. Bancroft. Great Britain had long refused to concede that her emigrants to the United States, whether from Great Britain or Ireland, might throw off allegiance to their mother country and become citizens of the United States. The principle involved in this question Mr. Bancroft discussed with the government of Prussia, and in a treaty obtained the formal recognition of the right of expatriation at the will of the individual emigrant, and negotiated with the several German states a corresponding treaty. England watched the course of negotiation, resolving to conform herself to the principles that Bismarck might adopt for Prussia, and followed him in abandoning the claims to perpetual allegiance. After the expiration of the English mission in 1849, Mr. Bancroft took up his residence in the city of New York and continued work on his history. The third volume had appeared in 1840, and volumes 4 to 10 at intervals from 1852 to 1874. In 1876 the work was revised and issued in a centenary edition (6 vols., 12mo, Boston). Volumes 11 and 12 were published first under the title “History of the Formation of the Constitution of the United States” (New York, 1882). The last revised edition of the whole work appeared in six volumes (New York, 1884-'85).

Mr. Bancroft has been correspondent of the royal academy of Berlin, and also of the French institute; was made D. C. L. at Oxford in 1849, and Doctor Juris by the university of Bonn in 1868, and in September, 1870, celebrated at Berlin the fiftieth anniversary of receiving his first degree at Göttingen. His minor publications include “An Oration delivered on the 4th of July, 1826, at Northampton, Mass.” (Northampton, 1826); “History of the Political System of Europe,” translated from Heeren (1829); “An Oration delivered before the Democracy of Springfield and Neighboring Towns, July 4. 1836” (2d ed., with prefatory remarks, Springfield, 1836); “History of the Colonization of the United States” (Boston, 1841, 12mo, abridged); “An Oration delivered at the Commemoration, in Washington, of the Death of Andrew Jackson, June 27, 1845”; “The Necessity, the Reality, and the Promise of the Progress of the Human Race”; “An  Oration delivered before the New York Historical Society, November 20, 1854” (New York, 1854); “Proceedings of the First Assembly of Virginia, 1619; Communicated, with an Introductory Note, by George Bancroft”; “Collections of the New York Historical Society,” second series, vol. iii., part i. (New York, 1857); “Literary and Historical Miscellanies” (New York, 1855); “Memorial Address on the Life and Character of Abraham Lincoln, delivered at the request of both Houses of the Congress of America, before them, in the House of Representatives at Washington, on the 12th of February, 1866” (Washington, 1866); and “A Plea for the Constitution of the United States of America, Wounded in the House of its Guardians,” by George Bancroft, Veritati Unice Litarem (New York, 1886). Among his other speeches and addresses may be mentioned a lecture on “The Culture, the Support, and the Object of Art in a Republic,” in the course of the New York historical society in 1852; one on “The Office, Appropriate Culture, and Duty of the Mechanic”; and to the “American Cyclopædia” Mr. Bancroft contributed a biography of Jonathan Edwards. Among those the least satisfied with the historian have been some of the descendants of eminent patriots (Greene, Reed, Rush, and others), whose merits have not, in the opinions of his censors, been duly recognized by Mr. Bancroft. That there should be entire agreement as regards the accuracy and candor of the narrator of the events of so many years, and of those years full of the excitement of party faction, is not to be expected. The merits of the work are considered at length in a biography of Mr. Bancroft by the present writer (see Allibone’s “Dictionary of Authors”), where the following opinions of eminent critics are quoted: Edward Everett says: “A history of the United States by an American writer possesses a claim upon our attention of the strongest character. It would do so under any circumstances; but when we add that the work of Mr. Bancroft is one of the ablest of that class which has for years appeared in the English language; that it compares advantageously with the standard British historians; that as far as it goes it does such justice to its noble subject as to supersede the necessity of any future work of the same kind, and, if completed as commenced, will unquestionably forever be regarded both as an American and as an English classic, our readers would justly think us unpardonable if we failed to offer our humble tribute to its merit.” Prof. Heeren writes: “We know few modern historic works in which the author has reached so high an elevation at once as an historical inquirer and an historical writer. The great conscientiousness with which he refers to his authorities, and his careful criticism, give the most decisive proofs of his comprehensive studies. He has founded his narrative on contemporary documents, yet without neglecting works of later times and of other countries. His narrative is everywhere worthy of the subject. The reader is always instructed, often more deeply interested than by novels or romances. The love of country is the muse which inspires the author, but this inspiration is that of the severe historian which springs from the heart.” William H. Prescott says: “We must confess our satisfaction that the favorable notice we took of Mr. Bancroft’s labors on his first appearance has been fully ratified by his countrymen, and that his colonial history establishes his title to a place among the great historical writers of the age. The reader will find the pages of the present volume filled with matter not less interesting and important than the preceding. He will meet with the same brilliant and daring style, the same picturesque sketches of character and incident, the same acute reasoning and compass of erudition.” George Ripley writes: “Mr. Bancroft is eminently a philosophical historian. He brings the wealth of a most varied learning in systems of thought and in the political and moral history of mankind to illustrate the early experiences of his country. He catalogues events in a manner which shows the possession of ideas, and not only describes popular movements picturesquely, but also analyzes them and reveals their spiritual signification.” Baron Bunsen says: “I read last night Bancroft with increasing admiration. What a glorious and interesting history has he given to his nation of the centuries before the independence!” Von Raumer remarks: “Bancroft Prescott, and Sparks have effected so much in historical composition that no living European historian can take precedence of them, but rather might be proud and grateful to be admitted as a companion.” Mr. Bancroft’s last address was given at the opening of the third meeting of the American historical association, of which he was president, at Washington, 27 April, 1886. It was printed in the “Magazine of American History” for June. In a letter to the author of this article, dated Washington, D. C., 30 May, 1882, he wrote: “I was trained to look upon life here as a season for labor. Being more than fourscore years old, I know the time for my release will soon come. Conscious of being near the shore of eternity, I await without impatience and without dread the beckoning of the hand which will summon me to rest.” Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Bangs, Nathan, Dr., Reverend, 1778-1862, New York, New York, clergyman, missionary, editor, author.  Officer of the New York auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  President of Wesleyan University.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 157; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 1, p. 574; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 135)

BANGS, Nathan, clergyman, b. in Stratford, Conn., 2 May, 1778; d. in New York city, 3 May, 1862. He received a limited education, taught school, and in 1799 went to Canada, where he spent three years as a teacher and land-surveyor. Uniting with the Methodist church, he labored for six years as an itinerant minister in the Canadian provinces, and, on returning to New York, took a prominent part in the councils of the denomination. In 1820 he was transferred from a pastorate in New York to the head of the Methodist book concern. Under his management debts were paid off and the business much extended. He was also editor of the “Methodist Magazine.” In 1828 he was appointed editor of the “Christian Advocate.” When the “Methodist Quarterly Review” replaced the “Methodist Magazine” in 1832, the general conference continued Dr. Bangs in the editorship. He was the principal founder and secretary of the Methodist missionary society. Besides his editorial labors he exercised the censorship over all the publications of the book concern. When appointed secretary of the missionary society in 1836, he devoted his chief energies to its service, until appointed president of the Wesleyan university, at Middletown, Conn., in 1841. In 1842 he resumed pastoral work in New York, and in 1852 retired and employed himself during his remaining years chiefly in literary labors. His most important work was a “History of the Methodist Episcopal Church from its Origin in 1776 to the General Conference of 1840” (4 vols., New York, 1839-'42). His other published works were a volume directed against “Christianism,” a new sect in New England (1809); “Errors of Hopkinsianism” (1815); “Predestination Examined” (1817); “Reformer Reformed” (1818); “Methodist Episcopacy” (1820); “Life of the Rev. Freeborn Garettson” (1832); ‘Authentic History of the Missions Under the Care of the Methodist Episcopal Church” (1832); “Letters to a Young Preacher” (1835); “The Original Church of Christ” (1836); “Essay on Emancipation” (1848); “State and Responsibilities of the Methodist Episcopal Church” (1850); “Letters on Sanctification” (1851); “Life of Arminius”; “Scriptural Vindication of the Orders and Powers of the Ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church”; and numerous occasional sermons. See “Life and Times of Nathan Bangs, D. D.,” by Abel Stevens (New York, Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Bascom, Henry Bidleman, Bishop, 1796-1850, Uniontown, Pennsylvania, clergyman. Methodist pastor, educator, former President of Madison College in Uniontown, Pennsylvania.  Successful Agent for the American Colonization Society in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Kentucky and Tennessee.  Wrote Methodism and Slavery, 1847.  Chaplain of Congress.  President of Madison College, Uniontown, Pennsylvania.  Agent, Colonization Society, 1829-1831.  (Henkle, Life of Bascom, 1856; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 189-190; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, pp. 30-32; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 136, 141-142, 146)

BASCOM, Henry Bidleman, M. E. bishop, b. in Hancock, Delaware co., N. Y., 27 May, 1796; d. in Louisville, Ky., 8 Sept., 1850. He was descended from a Huguenot family. He had but little education, but before the age of eighteen he was licensed to preach, and admitted to the Ohio conference, where he did hard work on the frontier, preaching in one year 400 times, and receiving a salary of $12.10. His style being too florid to suit the taste of those to whom he preached, he was transferred, in 1816, to Tennessee; but, after filling appointments there and in Kentucky, he returned to Ohio in 1822, and in 1823 Henry Clay obtained for him the appointment of chaplain to congress. At the close of the session of that body he visited Baltimore, where his fervid oratory made a great sensation. He was first president of Madison college, Uniontown, Pa., in 1827-'8, and from 1829 till 1831 was agent of the colonization society. From that time until 1841 he was professor of moral science and belles-lettres at Augusta college, Ky. He became president of Transylvania university, Kentucky, in 1842, having previously declined the presidency of two other colleges. Dr. Bascom was a member of the general conference of 1844, which suspended Bishop Andrew because he refused to manumit his slaves; and the protest of the southern members against the action of the majority was drawn up by him. In 1845 he was a member of the Louisville convention, which organized the Methodist Church South, and was the author of its report; and he was chairman of the commission appointed to settle the differences between the two branches of the church. In 1846 he became editor of the “Southern Methodist Quarterly Review,” and in 1849 he was chosen bishop, being ordained in May, 1850, only a few months before his death. Dr. Bascom was a powerful speaker, but was fond of strong epithets and rather extravagant metaphors. He was the author of “Sermons from the Pulpit,” “Lectures on Infidelity,” “Lectures on Moral and Mental Science,” and “Methodism and Slavery.” A posthumous edition of his works was edited by Rev. T. N. Ralston (Nashville, Tenn., 1850 and 1856). See “Life of Bishop Bascom,” by Rev. Dr. M. M. Henkle (Nashville, 1854). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 189-190.

Bayard, Samuel, 1767-1840, Princeton, New Jersey, jurist, Member of the New Jersey state legislature.  Vice-President, American Colonization Society, 1833-1841.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 199; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, pp. 69-70; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

BAYARD, Samuel, jurist, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 11 Jan., 1767; d. in Princeton, N. J., 12 May, 1840. He was the fourth son of Col. John Bayard, and was graduated at Princeton in 1784, delivering the valedictory oration. He studied law with William Bradford, whose law-partner he became, and practised for seven years in Philadelphia. In 1791 he was appointed Clerk of the U. S. supreme court. After the ratification of Jay's treaty with Great Britain, signed 19 Nov., 1794, he was appointed by Washington agent of the United States to prosecute American claims before the British admiralty courts, and in that capacity he lived in London four years. After his return he resided several years at New Rochelle, N. Y., and while there was appointed by Gov. Jay presiding judge of Westchester co. In 1803 be removed to New York city, and resumed the practice of law. He was one of the founders of the New York historical society, organized in 1804. In 1806 he purchased an estate at Princeton, N. J. For several years he was a member of the New Jersey legislature, and for a long period presiding judge of the court of common pleas of Somerset co. He was interested in religious enterprises, was one of the founders of Princeton theological seminary, and joined with Elias Boudinot in establishing the American Bible society and the New Jersey Bible society. In 1814 he was nominated by the federalists for congress, but was defeated. He published a funeral oration on Gen. Washington (New Brunswick, 1800); “A Digest of American Cases on the Law of Evidence, intended as Notes to Peake's Compendium” (Philadelphia, 1810); “An Abstract of the Laws of the United States which relate to the Duties and Authority of Judges of Inferior State Courts and Justices of the Peace” (New York, 1834); and “Letters on the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper” (Philadelphia, 1825; 2d ed., 1840). See “Samuel Bayard and his London Diary, 1791-'4,” by Gen. Jas Grant Wilson (Newark, 1885).  Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 199.

Beaman, Charles C., Boston, Massachusetts.  Member of the Young Men’s Colonization Society.  Publicly defended the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 210)

Beck, John Brodhead, 1794-1851, New York, physician, Recording Secretary, New York Auxiliary, American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 213; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, p. 115; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 40)

BECK, John Brodhead, physician, b. in Schenectady, N. Y., 18 Sept., 1794; d. in Rhinebeck, N. Y., 9 April, 1851. He was a nephew of the Rev. John B. Romeyn, in whose house he was educated. He was graduated at Columbia in 1813, and began the practice of medicine in 1817. From 1822 till 1829 he edited the “New York Medical and Physical Journal.” He became professor of materia medica and of botany in the college of physicians and surgeons in 1826, but exchanged the chair of botany subsequently for that of medical jurisprudence. He assisted T. Romeyn Beck in the preparation of his great work on medical jurisprudence (1823), and published “Medical Essays” (1843), “Infant Therapeutics” (1849), and “Historical Sketch of the State of Medicine in the Colonies” (1850). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Beecher, Lyman, 1775-1863, abolitionist leader, clergyman, educator, writer.  Active in the Cincinnati, Ohio, auxiliary of the American Colonization Society, founded in Washington, DC, December 1816.  Co-founder, American Temperance Society.  President, Lane Theological Seminary.  Major spokesman for the anti-slavery cause in the United States.  Father of notable abolitionists, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher, Edward Beecher and Charles Beecher. (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 216-217; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, p. 135; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 134, 140, 196, 231)

BEECHER, Lyman, clergyman, b. in New Haven, Conn., 2 Oct., 1775; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 10 Jan., 1863. His ancestor in the fifth ascent emigrated to New England, and settled at New Haven in 1638. His father, David Beecher, was a blacksmith. His mother died shortly after his birth, and he was committed to the care of his uncle Lot Benton, by whom he was adopted as a son, and with whom his early life was spent between blacksmithing and farming. But it was soon found that he preferred study. He was fitted for college by the Rev. Thomas W. Bray, and at the age of eighteen entered Yale, where, besides the usual classical course, he studied theology under President Dwight and was graduated in 1797. After this he continued his studies until September, 1798, when he was licensed to preach by the New Haven West Association, entered upon his clerical duties by supplying the pulpit in the Presbyterian church at East Hampton, Long Island, and was ordained in 1799. Here he married his first wife, Roxana Foote. His salary was $300 a year, after five years increased to $400, with a dilapidated parsonage. To eke out his scanty income, his wife opened a private school, in which the husband also gave instruction. Mr. Beecher soon became one of the foremost preachers of his day. A sermon that he delivered in 1804, on the death of Alexander Hamilton, excited great attention. Finding his salary wholly inadequate to support his increasing family, he resigned the charge, and in 1810 was installed pastor of the Congregational church in Litchfield, Conn. Here he remained for sixteen years, during which he took rank as the foremost clergyman of his denomination. In his autobiography he says this pastorate was “the most laborious part of his life.” The vice of intemperance had become common in New England, even the formal meetings of the clergy being not unfrequently accompanied by gross excesses, and Mr. Beecher resolved to take a stand against it. About 1814 he delivered and published six sermons on intemperance, which contain eloquent passages hardly exceeded by anything in the English language. They were sent broadcast through the United States, ran rapidly through many editions in England, and were translated into several languages on the continent, and have had a large sale even after the lapse of fifty years. His eloquence, zeal, and courage as a preacher, and his leading the way in the organization of the Bible, missionary, and educational societies, gave him a high reputation throughout New England. During his residence in Litchfield arose the Unitarian controversy, in which he took a prominent part. Litchfield was at this time the seat of a famous law school and several other institutions of learning, and Mr. Beecher (now a doctor of divinity) and his wife undertook to supervise the training of several young women, who were received into their family. But here too he found his salary ($800 a year) inadequate. The rapid and extensive defection of the Congregational churches in Boston and vicinity, under the lead of Dr. Channing and others in sympathy with him, had excited much anxiety throughout New England; and in 1826 Mr. Beecher received a call to become pastor of the Hanover street church in Boston. At the urgent request of his clerical brethren, he took the charge for the purpose of upholding the doctrines of Puritanism, and remained in this church six years and a half. His sermons at this time were largely controversial; he flung himself into the thickest of the fray, and was sustained by an immense following. About this time the religious public had become impressed with the growing importance of the great west; a theological seminary had been founded at Walnut Bills, near Cincinnati, O., and named Lane Seminary, after one of its principal benefactors, and a large amount of money was pledged to the institution on condition that Dr. Beecher accept the presidency, which he did in 1832. He retained the place for twenty years, and his name was continued in the seminary catalogue, as president, until his death. He was also, during the first ten years of his presidency, pastor of the Second Presbyterian church in Cincinnati. Soon after his removal thither he startled the religious public in the east by a tract calling attention to the danger of Roman Catholic supremacy in the west. The French revolution of 1830, the agitation in England for reform and against colonial slavery, and the punishment by American courts of citizens who had dared to attack the slave-trade carried on under the American flag, had begun to direct the attention of American philanthropists to the evils of American slavery, and an abolition convention met in Philadelphia in 1833. Its president, Arthur Tappan, through whose liberal donations Dr. Beecher had been secured to Lane seminary, forwarded to the students a copy of the address issued by the convention, and the whole subject was soon under discussion. Many of the students were from the south; an effort was made to stop the discussions and the meetings; slaveholders went over from Kentucky and incited mob violence; and for several weeks Dr. Beecher lived in a turmoil, not knowing how soon the rabble might destroy the seminary and the houses of the professors. The board of trustees interfered during the absence of Dr. Beecher, and allayed the excitement of the mob by forbidding all further discussion of slavery in the seminary, whereupon the students withdrew en masse. A very few were persuaded to return and remain, while the seceders laid the foundation of Oberlin College. For seventeen years after this, Dr. Beecher and his able coworker, Prof. Stowe, remained and tried to revive the prosperity of the seminary, but at last abandoned it. The great project of their lives was defeated, and they returned to the eastern states. In 1835 Dr. Beecher, who had been called “a moderate Calvinist,” was arraigned on charges of hypocrisy and heresy by some of the stronger Calvinists. The trial took place in his own church; and he defended himself, while burdened with the cares of his seminary, his church, and his wife at home on her death-bed. The trial resulted in acquittal, and, on an appeal to the general synod, he was again acquitted; but the controversy engendered by the action went on until the Presbyterian church was rent in twain. In the theological controversies that led to the excision of a portion of the general assembly of the Presbyterian church in 1837-'8, Dr. Beecher took an active part, adhering to the new school branch. In 1852 he resigned the presidency of Lane Seminary, and returned to Boston, purposing to devote himself mainly to the revisal and publication of his works. But his intellectual powers began to decline, while his physical strength was unabated. About his eightieth year he suffered a stroke of paralysis, and thenceforth his mental powers only gleamed out occasionally with some indications of their former splendor. The last ten years of his life were passed in Brooklyn, N. Y., in the home of his son, Henry Ward Beecher. Dr. Beecher was a man of great intellectual power, though not a profound scholar. His sermons were usually extemporaneous, as far as form was concerned, but were carefully thought out, often while he was engaged in active physical exercise; but his writings were elaborated with the utmost care. He stood unequalled among living divines for dialectic keenness, pungent appeal, lambent wit, vigor of thought, and concentrated power of expression. He possessed intense personal magnetism, and an indomitable will, and was thoroughly devoted to his chosen work. The sincerity and spirituality of his preaching were generally acknowledged, and were attended by tangible results. He was bold to the point of audacity, and it was this feature of his character, probably more than any positive errors, that made him a subject of anxiety to the more conservative class of the theologians of his own denomination. His great boldness in denouncing laxity in regard to the standard of the Christian orthodoxy made a deep impress on the public mind. The degree of A. M. was conferred on him by Yale in 1809, and that of D. D. by Middlebury College in 1818. When he became president of Lane Seminary, he took also the chair of sacred theology. He was the author of a great number of printed sermons and addresses. His published works are: “Remedy for Duelling” (New York, 1809); “Plea for the West,” “Six Sermons on Temperance,” “Sermons on Various Occasions,” (1842), “Views in Theology,” “Skepticism,” “Lectures on Various Occasions,” “Political Atheism.” He made a collection of those of his works which he deemed the most valuable (3 vols., Boston, 1852). He was three times married—in 1799, 1817, and 1836—and had thirteen children. Most of his children have attained literary or theological distinction. All his sons became Congregational clergymen, viz., William Henry, Edward, George, Henry Ward, Charles, Thomas Kinnicut, and James Chaplin. The daughters are Catherine Esther, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mary Beecher Perkins, and Isabella Beecher Hooker. He was proverbially absent-minded, and after having been wrought up by the excitement of preaching was accustomed to relax his mind by playing “Auld Lang Syne” on the violin, or dancing the “double shuffle” in his parlor. His autobiography and correspondence was edited by the Rev. Charles Beecher (New York, 1863). See also “Life and Services of Lyman Beecher,” by the Rev. D. H. Allen (Cincinnati, 1863). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 216-217.

Bethune, Divie, New York, merchant, philanthropist, President of the New York auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 40)

Bethune, George Washington, 1805-1862, Pennsylvania, Dutch Reform clergyman, Director, American Colonization Society, 1839-1840.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 252-253; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, pp. 229-230; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

BETHUNE, George Washington, clergyman, b. in New York city in March, 1805; d. in Florence, Italy, 27 April, 1862. His parents were distinguished for devout Christianity and for charitable deeds. His father, Divie Bethune, was an eminent merchant, well known as a philanthropist. He was graduated at Dickinson college, Carlisle, Pa., in 1822, studied theology at Princeton, and after completing his course was ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian church in 1825. He accepted an appointment as chaplain to seamen in the port of Savannah, but in 1826 returned to the north and transferred his ecclesiastical allegiance to the Reformed Dutch church, settling soon after at Rhinebeck, N. Y., where he remained four years, when he was called to the pastorate of the first Reformed Dutch church in Utica. In 1834 his reputation as an eloquent preacher and an efficient pastor led to an invitation from a Reformed Dutch church in Philadelphia. He remained in that city till 1848, his character as a preacher and scholar steadily growing, and then became pastor of the newly organized “Reformed Dutch Church on the Heights” in Brooklyn, N. Y. For eleven years he continued in the pastorate of this church, but in 1859 impaired health led him to resign and visit Italy. In Rome he sometimes preached in the American chapel, at that time the only Protestant place of worship in the city. He returned in 1860 with improved health, and was for some months associate pastor of a Reformed Dutch church in New York city; but, his health again becoming impaired, he returned to Italy in the summer of 1861, and, after some months’ residence in Florence, died from apoplexy. Dr. Bethune, though best remembered by his literary work, exercised a wide influence as a clergyman and a citizen. One of his latest public efforts before leaving his native city for his last voyage to Europe was an address delivered at the great mass meeting in Union square, New York, 20 April, 1861, in which with extraordinary fire and eloquence he urged the duty of patriotism in the trying crisis that then threatened the nation. A memoir by A. R. Van Nest, D. D., was published in 1867. Dr. Bethune was an accomplished student of English literature, and distinguished himself as a writer and editor. He published an excellent edition of the “British Female Poets, with Biographical and Critical Notices” (Philadelphia, 1848); and Izaak Walton's “Complete Angler,” for which last he was peculiarly qualified by his fondness for fishing. Among his original works are “Lays of Love and Faith” (Philadelphia, 1847); “Orations and Discourses” (1850); “Memoirs of Joanna Bethune” (New York, 1863); “Fruits of the Spirit,” a volume of sermons; and two smaller works, “Early Lost, Early Saved,” and “The History of a Penitent.” Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Bexley, Lord, London, Great Britain, Vice-President, 1840-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Binney, Horace, 1780-1875, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, constitutional lawyer, member of the Philadelphia auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Burin, 2005, pp. 84, 112; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 265-266; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, p. 280; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 40, 72)

BINNEY, Horace, lawyer, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 4 Jan., l780; d. there, 12 Aug., 1875. He was of English and Scotch descent. His father was a surgeon in the revolutionary army. In 1788, the year after his father's death, he was placed in a classical school at Bordentown, N. J., where he continued three years, and distinguished himself especially by his attainments in Greek. In July, 1793, he entered the freshman class of Harvard, and at graduation in 1797 he divided the highest honor with a single classmate. He had acquired the art and habit of study, and a love for it which never abated until the close of his life. This art he ever regarded as his most valued acquisition. He began the study of law in November, 1797, in the office of Jared Ingersoll, and was called to the bar in March, 1800, when he was little more than twenty years of age. His clientage for some years was meagre, but his industry continued unflagging, and gradually, in the face of a competition with eminent lawyers, such as no other bar in the country then exhibited, he became an acknowledged leader. In 1806 he was sent to the legislature of the state, in which he served one year, declining a re-election. So early as 1807 his professional engagements had become extremely large, and before 1815 he was in the enjoyment of all that the legal profession could give, whether of reputation or emolument. Between 1807 and 1814 he prepared and published the six volumes of reported decisions of the supreme court of Pennsylvania that bear his name. They are among the earliest of American reports, and are regarded as almost perfect models of legal reporting. Soon after 1830 Mr. Binney's health began to be impaired, and he desired to withdraw from the courts and throw off the business that oppressed him. It was this, in part, that made him willing to accept a nomination for congress; but there was doubtless another reason that influenced him—the hostility of President Jackson to the United States bank. The veto of the bill for its recharter aroused the deepest feeling of almost the entire business community of Philadelphia, and with that community Mr. Binney was closely associated, while his ability, combined with his well-known knowledge of the condition and operations of the bank, pointed him out as the fittest man to defend the institution in congress. He accepted a nomination, and was elected to the 23d congress. In the consideration of great subjects, notably that of the removal of the public deposits from the United States bank, he proved himself to be a statesman of high rank and an accomplished debater. But official life was distasteful to him, and he declined a re-election. On his return to Philadelphia he refused all professional engagements in the courts, though he continued to give written opinions upon legal questions until 1850. Many of these opinions are still preserved. They relate to titles to real estate, to commercial questions, to trusts, and to the most abstruse subjects in every department of the law. They are model exhibitions of profound and accurate knowledge, of extensive research, of nice discrimination, and wise conclusion, and they were generally accepted as of almost equal authority with judicial decision. Once only after 1836 did Mr. Binney appear in the courts. In 1844, by appointment of the city councils of Philadelphia, he argued in the supreme court of the United States the case of Bidal vs. Girard's executors, in which was involved the validity of the trust created by Mr. Girard's will for the establishment and maintenance of a college for orphans. The argument is in print, and it is still the subject of admiration by the legal profession in this country, and almost equally so by the profession in Great Britain. It lifted the law of charities out of the depths of confusion and obscurity that had covered it, and while the fulness of its research and the vigor of its reasoning were masterly, it was clothed with a precision and a beauty of language never surpassed. The argument was a fitting close to a long and illustrious professional life. Mr. Binney had a fine, commanding person, an uncommonly handsome face, a dignified and graceful manner, and a most melodious voice, perfectly under his control, and modulated with unusual skill. In fine, he was in all particulars a most accomplished lawyer. No words can better describe him than those which he applied to a great man, the friend of his early man-hood: “He was an advocate of great power; a master of every question in his causes; a wary tactician in the management of them; highly accomplished in language; a faultless logician; a man of the purest integrity and the highest honor; fluent without the least volubility; concise to a degree that left every one's patience and attention unimpaired, and perspicuous to almost the lowest order of understanding, while he was dealing with almost the highest topics.” If it be added to this that his mental power was equal to the comprehension of any legal subject, that his mode of presentation was the best possible, that his rhetoric was faultless, that he had an aptness of illustration that illuminated the most abstruse subjects, and a personal character without a visible flaw, it will be seen that he must have been, as he was, a most persuasive and convincing advocate. In 1827, by invitation of the bar of Philadelphia, he delivered an address on the life and character of Chief-Justice Tilghman; and in 1835, complying with a request of the select and common councils of the city, an address on the life and character of Chief-Justice Marshall. Until the close of his life he was a constant reader and an indefatigable student. He kept himself well informed of current events, and in regard to all public questions he not only sought information, but matured settled opinions. In 1858 he published a sketch of the life and character of Justice Bushrod Washington, in which he delineated the qualities that make up a perfect nisi prius judge, with singular acuteness. In the same year he published sketches of three leaders of the old Philadelphia bar, which were greatly admired. He also in 1858 gave to the press a more extended discussion, entitled “An Inquiry into the Formation of Washington's Farewell Address,” strikingly illustrative of the character of his own mind, and of his habits of investigation and reasoning. And in 1862 and in 1863 he published three pamphlets in support of the power claimed by President Lincoln to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. His argument was not less remarkable than the best of his earlier efforts. Throughout his life Mr. Binney manifested a deep interest in many literary, scientific, and art institutions of Philadelphia, and in many of the noblest charities. He was also an earnest Christian, a devout member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and often a leading member of its conventions. The activity of his mind remained undiminished until his death. This occurred forty years after the age when most men are at the zenith of their reputation, forty years after he had substantially retired from public view and from participation in all matters that attract public notice, and at the end of a period when public recollection of most lawyers has faded into indistinctness. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Birney, James Gillespie, 1792-1857, abolitionist leader, statesman, orator, writer, lawyer, jurist, newspaper publisher.  On two occasions, mobs in Cincinnati attacked and wrecked his newspaper office.  Beginning in 1832, Birney was an agent for the American colonization Society, representing the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.  In 1833, he transferred to agent in Kentucky.  Wrote pro-colonization articles for Alabama Democrat.  Editor of the Philanthropist, founded 1836.  Founder and president of the Liberty Party in 1848.  Third party presidential candidate, 1840, 1844.  Founder University of Alabama.  Native American rights advocate.  Member of the American Colonization Society.  American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1835-1836, Vice President, 1835-1836, 1836-1838, Executive Committee, 1838-1840, Corresponding Secretary, 1838-1840. American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, Secretary, 1840-1841, Executive Committee, 1840-1842.  His writings include: “Ten Letters on Slavery and Colonization,” (1832-1833), “Addresses and Speeches,” (1835), “Vindication of the Abolitionists,” (1835), “The Philanthropist,” a weekly newspaper (1836-1837), “Address of Slaveholders,” (1836), “Argument on Fugitive Slave Case,” (1837), “Political Obligations of Abolitionists,” (1839), “American Churches the Bulwarks of American Slavery,” (1840), and “Speeches in England,” (1840).  (Birney, 1969; Blue, 2005, pp. 20-21, 25, 30, 32, 48-51, 55, 9-99, 101, 139, 142, 163, 186, 217; Burin, 2005, pp. 84, 112; Drake, 1950, pp. 141, 149, 159; Dumond, 1938; Dumond, 1961, pp. 90, 93, 176, 179, 185, 197, 198, 200-202, 257-262, 286, 297, 300-301, 303; Filler, 1960, pp. 55, 73, 77, 89, 94, 107, 128, 131, 137, 140-141, 148, 152, 156, 176; Fladeland, 1955; Harrold, 1995; Mabee, 1970, pp. 27, 36, 40, 41, 49, 54, 55, 60, 71, 92, 195, 228, 252,293, 301, 323, 328, 350; Mitchell, 2007, pp. 4-5, 7, 8, 13-15, 18, 21-31, 35, 50, 101, 199, 225; Pease, 1965, pp. 43-49; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 43-44, 46, 48, 163, 188-189, 364, 522; Sorin, 1971, pp. 25, 47, 51, 52, 65, 70n, 97, 103n; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 146-148, 211-212, 229-230; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 267-269; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, pp. 291-294; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985, pp. 79-80; Birney, William, Jas. G. Birney and His Times, 1890; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 2; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. II. New York: James T. White, 1892, pp. 312-313)

BIRNEY, James Gillespie, statesman, b. in Danville, Ky., 4 Feb., 1792; d. in Perth Amboy, N. J., 25 Nov., 1857. His ancestors were Protestants of the province of Ulster, Ireland. His father, migrating to the United States at sixteen years of age, settled in Kentucky, became a wealthy merchant, manufacturer, and farmer, and for many years was president of the Danville bank. His mother died when he was three years old, and his early boyhood was passed under the care of a pious aunt. Giving promise of talent and force of character, he was liberally educated with a view to his becoming a lawyer and statesman. After preparation at good schools and at Transylvania university he was sent to Princeton, where he was graduated with honors in 1810. Having studied law for three years, chiefly under Alexander J. Dallas, of Philadelphia, he returned to his native place in 1814 and began practice. In 1816 he married a daughter of William McDowell, judge of the U. S. circuit court and one of several brothers who, with their relatives, connections, and descendants, were the most influential family in Kentucky. In the same year he was elected to the legislature, in which body he opposed and defeated in its original form a proposition to demand of the states of Ohio and Indiana the enactment of laws for the seizure, imprisonment, and delivery to owners of slaves escaping into their limits. His education in New Jersey and Pennsylvania at the time when the gradual emancipation laws of those states were in operation had led him to favor that solution of the slavery problem. In the year 1818 he removed to Alabama, bought a cotton plantation near Huntsville, and served as a member of the first legislature that assembled under the constitution of 1819. Though he was not a member of the convention that framed the instrument, it was chiefly through his influence that a provision of the Kentucky constitution, empowering the general assembly to emancipate slaves on making compensation to the owners, and to prohibit the bringing of slaves into the state for sale, was copied into it, with amendments designed to secure humane treatment for that unfortunate class. In the legislature he voted against a resolution of honor to Gen. Jackson, assigning his reasons in a forcible speech. This placed him politically in a small minority. In 1823, having found planting unprofitable, partly because of his refusal to permit his overseer to use the lash, he resumed at Huntsville the practice of his profession, was appointed solicitor of the northern circuit, and soon gained a large and lucrative practice. In 1826 he made a public profession of religion, united with the Presbyterian church, and was ever afterward a devout Christian. About the same time he began to contribute to the American colonization society, regarding it as preparing the way for gradual emancipation. In 1827 he procured the enactment by the Alabama legislature of a statute "to prohibit the importation of slaves into this state for sale or hire." In 1828 he was a candidate for presidential elector on the Adams ticket in Alabama, canvassed the state for the Adams party, and was regarded as its most prominent member. He was repeatedly elected mayor of Huntsville, and was recognized as the leader in educational movements and local improvements. In 1830 he was deputed by the trustees of the state university to select and recommend to them five persons as president and professors of that institution, also by the trustees of the Huntsville female seminary to select and employ three teachers. In the performance of these trusts he spent several months in the Atlantic states, extending his tour as far north as Massachusetts. His selections were approved. Returning home by way of Kentucky, he called on Henry Clay, with whom he had been on terms of friendship and political sympathy, and urged that statesman to place himself at the head of the gradual emancipation movement in Kentucky. The result of the interview was the final alienation in public matters and politics of the parties to it, though their friendly personal relations remained unchanged. Mr. Birney did not support Mr. Clay politically after 1830 or vote for him in 1832. For several years he was the confidential adviser and counsel of the Cherokee nation, an experience that led him to sympathize with bodies of men who were wronged under color of law. In 1831 he had become so sensible of the evil influences of slavery that he determined to remove his large family to a free state, and in the winter of that year visited Illinois and selected Jacksonville as the place of his future residence. Returning to Alabama, he was winding up his law business and selling his property with a view to removal, when he received, most unexpectedly, an appointment from the American colonization society as its agent for the southwest. From motives of duty he accepted and devoted himself for one year to the promotion of the objects of that society. Having become convinced that the slave-holders of the gulf states, with few exceptions, were hostile to the idea of emancipation in the future, he lost faith in the efficacy of colonization in that region. In his conversations about that time with southern politicians and men of influence he learned enough to satisfy him that, although the secret negotiations in 1829 of the Jackson administration for the purchase of Texas had failed, the project of annexing that province to the United States and forming several slave states out of its territory had not been abandoned; that a powerful combination existed at the south for the purpose of sending armed adventurers to Texas; and that southern politicians were united in the design to secure for the south a majority in the U. S. senate. The situation seemed to him to portend the permanence of slavery, with grave danger of civil war and disunion of the states. Resigning his agency and relinquishing his Illinois project, he removed, in November, 1833, to Kentucky for the purpose of separating it from the slave states by effecting the adoption of a system of gradual emancipation. He thought its example might be followed by Virginia and Tennessee, and that thus the slave states would be placed in a hopeless minority, and slavery in process of extinction. But public opinion in his native state had greatly changed since he had left it; the once powerful emancipation element had been weakened by the opposition of political leaders, and especially of Henry Clay. His efforts were sustained by very few. In June, 1834, he set free his own slaves and severed his connection with the colonization society, the practical effect of which, he had found, was to afford a pretext for postponing emancipation indefinitely. From this time he devoted himself with untiring zeal to the advocacy in Kentucky of the abolition of slavery. On 19 March, 1835, he formed the Kentucky anti-slavery society, consisting of forty members, several of whom had freed their slaves. In May, at New York, he made the principal speech at the meeting of the American anti-slavery society, and thenceforward he was identified with the Tappans, Judge William Jay, Theodore D. Weld, Alvan Stewart, Thomas Morris, and other northern abolitionists, who pursued their object by constitutional methods. In June, 1835, he issued a prospectus for the publication, beginning in August, of an anti-slavery weekly paper, at Danville, Ky.; but before the time fixed for issuing the first number the era of mob violence and social persecutions, directed against the opponents of slavery, set in. This was contemporaneous with the renewed organization of revolts in Texas; the beginning of the war for breaking up the refuge for fugitive slaves, waged for years against the Florida Seminoles; and the exclusion, by connivance of the postmaster-general, of anti-slavery papers from the U. S. mails; and it preceded, by a few months only, President Jackson's message, recommending not only the refusal of the use of the mails, but the passage of laws by congress and also by the non-slaveholding states for the suppression of “incendiary” (anti- slavery) publications. Mr. Birney found it impossible to obtain a publisher or printer; and as his own residence in Kentucky had become disagreeable and dangerous, he removed to Cincinnati, where he established his paper. His press was repeatedly destroyed by mobs; but he met all opposition with courage and succeeded finally in maintaining the freedom of the press in Cincinnati, exhibiting great personal courage, firmness, and judgment. On 22 Jan., 1836, a mob assembled at the court-house for the purpose of destroying his property and seizing his person; the city and county authorities had notified him of their inability to protect him; he attended the meeting, obtained leave to speak, and succeeded in defeating its object. As an editor, he was distinguished by a thorough knowledge of his subject, courtesy, candor, and large attainments as a jurist and statesman. The “Philanthropist” gained rapidly an extensive circulation. Having associated with him as editor Dr. Gamaliel Bailey, he devoted most of his own time to public speaking, visiting in this work most of the cities and towns in the free states and addressing committees of legislative bodies. His object was to awaken the people of the north to the danger menacing the freedom of speech and of the press, the trial by jury, the system of free labor, and the national constitution, from the encroachments of the slave-power and the plotted annexation of new slave states in the southwest. In recognition of his prominence as an anti-slavery leader, the executive committee of the American anti-slavery society unanimously elected him, in the summer of 1837, to the office of secretary. Having accepted, he removed to New York city, 20 Sept., 1837. In his new position he was the executive officer of the society, conducted its correspondence, selected and employed lecturers, directed the organization of auxiliaries, and prepared its reports. He attended the principal anti-slavery conventions, and his wise and conservative counsel had a marked influence on their action. He was faithful to the church, while he exposed and rebuked the ecclesiastical bodies that sustained slavery; and true to the constitution, while he denounced the constructions that severed it from the principles contained in its preamble and in the declaration of independence. To secession, whether of the north or south, he was inflexibly opposed. The toleration or establishment of slavery in any district or territory belonging to the United States, and its abolition in the slave states, except under the war power, he held was not within the legal power of congress; slavery was local, and freedom national. To vote he considered the duty of every citizen, and more especially of every member of the American anti-slavery society, the constitution of which recognized the duty of using both moral and political action for the removal of slavery. In the beginning of the agitation the abolitionists voted for such anti-slavery candidates as were nominated by the leading parties; but as the issues grew, under the aggressive action of the slave power, to include the right of petition, the freedom of speech and of the press, the trial by jury, the equality of all men before the law, the right of the free states to legislate for their own territory, and the right of congress to exclude slavery from the territories, the old parties ceased to nominate anti-slavery candidates, and the abolitionists were forced to make independent nominations for state officers and congress, and finally to form a national and constitutional party. Mr. Birney was their first and only choice as candidate for the presidency. During his absence in England, in 1840, and again in 1844, he was unanimously nominated by national conventions of the liberty party. At the former election he received 7,369 votes; and at the latter, 62,263. This number, it was claimed by his friends, would have been much larger if the electioneering agents of the whig party had not circulated, three days before the election and too late for denial and exposure, a forged letter purporting to be from Mr. Birney, announcing his withdrawal from the canvass, and advising anti-slavery men to vote for Mr. Clay. This is known as “the Garland forgery.” Its circulation in Ohio and New York probably gave the former state to Mr. Clay, and greatly diminished Mr. Birney's vote in the latter. In its essential doctrines the platform of the liberty party in 1840 and 1844 was identical with those that were subsequently adopted by the free-soil and republican parties. In the summer of 1845 Mr. Birney was disabled physically by partial paralysis, caused by a fall from a horse, and from that time he withdrew from active participation in politics, though he continued his contributions to the press. In September, 1839, he emancipated twenty-one slaves that belonged to his late father's estate, setting off to his co-heir $20,000, in compensation for her interest in them. In 1839 Mr. Birney lost his wife, and in the autumn of 1841 he married Miss Fitzhugh, sister of Mrs. Gerrit Smith, of New York. In 1842 he took up his residence in Bay City, Mich. In person he was of medium height, robust build, and handsome countenance. His manners were those of a polished man of the world, free from eccentricities, and marked with dignity. He had neither vices nor bad habits. As a presiding officer in a public meeting he was said to have no superior. As a public speaker he was generally calm and judicial in tone; but when under strong excitement he rose to eloquence. His chief writings were as follows: “Ten Letters on Slavery and Colonization,” addressed to R. R. Gurley (the first dated 12 July, 1832, the last 11 Dec., 1833); “Six Essays on Slavery and Colonization,” published in the Huntsville (Ala.) “Advocate” (May, June, and July, 1833); “Letter on Colonization,” resigning vice-presidency of Kentucky colonization society (15 July, 1834); “Letters to the Presbyterian Church” (1834); “Addresses and Speeches” (1835); “Vindication of the Abolitionists” (1835); “The Philanthropist,” a weekly newspaper (1836 and to September, 1837); “Letter to Col. Stone” (May, 1836); “Address to Slaveholders” (October, 1836); “Argument on Fugitive Slave Case” (1837); “Letter to F. H. Elmore,” of South Carolina (1838); “Political Obligations of Abolitionists” (1839); “Report on the Duty of Political Action,” for executive committee of the American anti-slavery society (May, 1839); “American Churches the Bulwarks of American Slavery” (1840); “Speeches in England” (1840); “Letter of Acceptance”; “Articles in Q. A. S. Magazine and Emancipator” (1837-'44); “Examination of the Decision of the U. S. Supreme Court,” in the case of Strader et al., v. Graham (1850). —His son, James, b. in Danville, Ky., 7 June, 1817; was a state senator in Michigan in 1859, and was lieutenant-governor of the state and acting governor in 1861-'3. He was appointed by President Grant, in 1876, minister at the Hague, and held that office until 1882.—Another son, William, lawyer, b. near Huntsville, Ala., 28 May, 1819. While pursuing his studies in Paris, in February, 1848, he took an active part in the revolution, and he was appointed on public competition professor of English literature in the college at Bourges. He entered the U. S. national service as captain in April, 1861, and rose through all the grades to the rank of brevet major-general of volunteers, commanding a division for the last two years of the civil war. He participated in the principal battles in Virginia, and, being sent for a short time to Florida after the battle of Olustee, regained possession of the principal parts of the state and of several of the confederate strongholds. ln 1863-'4, having been detailed by the war department as one of three superintendents of the organization of U. S. colored troops, he enlisted, mustered in, armed, equipped, drilled, and sent to the field seven regiments of those troops. In this work he opened all the slave-prisons in Baltimore, and freed their inmates, including many slaves belonging to men in the confederate armies. The result of his operations was to hasten the abolition of slavery in Maryland. He passed four years in Florida after the war, and in 1874 removed to Washington, D. C., where he practised his profession and became attorney for the District of Columbia.— The third son, Dion, physician, entered the army as lieutenant at the beginning of the civil war, rose to the rank of captain, and died in 1864 of disease contracted in the service.—The fourth son, David Bell, b. in Huntsville, Ala., 29 May, 1825; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 18 Oct., 1864, studied law in Cincinnati, and, after engaging in business in Michigan, began the practice of law in Philadelphia in 1848. He entered the army as lieutenant-colonel at the beginning of the civil war, and was made colonel of the 23d Pennsylvania volunteers, which regiment he raised, principally at his own expense, in the summer of 1861. He was promoted successively to brigadier and major-general of volunteers, and distinguished himself in the battles of Yorktown, Williamsburg, the second battle of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. After the death of Gen. Berry he commanded the division, receiving his commission as major-general, 23 May, 1863. He commanded the 3d corps at Gettysburg, after Gen. Sickles was wounded, and on 23 July, 1864, was given the command of the 10th corps. He died of disease contracted in the service.—A fifth son, Fitzhugh, died, in 1864, of wounds and disease, in the service with the rank of colonel—A grandson, James Gillespie, was lieutenant and captain of cavalry, served as staff officer under Custer and Sheridan, was appointed lieutenant in the regular army at the close of the war; and died soon afterward of disease contracted in the service. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 267-269.

Blackburn, Gideon, 1772-1838, Kentucky, Virginia, clergyman, abolitionist, strong supporter of the American colonization Society.  Went to Illinois in 1833.  Assisted Elijah P. Lovejoy in organizing Illinois Anti-Slavery Society.  Founded Blackburn College at Carlinville, Illinois.  Established school for Cherokee Indians.  (Dumond, 1961, pp. 91, 92, 135, 198-199; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 272; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, p. 315; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 139)

BLACKBURN, Gideon, clergyman, b. in Augusta co., Va., 27 Aug., 1772; d. in Carlinville, Ill., 23 Aug., 1838. He was educated at Martin academy, Washington co., Tenn., licensed to preach by Abingdon presbytery in 1795, and settled many years at Marysville, Tenn. He was minister of Franklin, Tenn., in 1811-'3, and of Louisville, Ky., in 1823-'7. He passed the last forty years of his life in the western states, in preaching, organizing churches, and, from 1803 to 1809, during a part of each year, in his mission to the Cherokees, establishing a school at Hywassee. He established a school in Tennessee in 1806, and from 1827 till 1830 was president of Center college, Kentucky. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 272.

Blackburn, William Jasper, b. 1820, newspaper editor, U.S. Congressman, printer, opponent of slavery.  Published Blackburn’s Homer’s Iliad.  Published pro-Union paper in the South during the Civil War.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 272-273)

BLACKBURN, William Jasper, editor, b. in Randolph co., Ark., 24 July, 1820. He was early left an orphan, and received his education in public schools, also studying during the years 1838-'9 in Jackson College, Columbia, Tenn.; after which he became a printer, and worked in various offices in Arkansas and Louisiana. Later he settled in Homer, La., where he established “Blackburn's Homer Iliad,” in which he editorially condemned the assault on Charles Sumner by Preston S. Brooks, being the only southern editor that denounced that action. Although born in a slave state, he was always opposed to slavery, and his office was twice mobbed therefor. The “Iliad” was the only loyal paper published during the civil war in the gulf states. He was a member of the constitutional convention of Louisiana convened in 1867, and was elected as a republican to congress, serving from 17 July, 1868, till 3 March, 1869. From 1872 till 1876 he was a member of the Louisiana state senate. Subsequently he removed to Little Rock, Ark., and became owner and editor of the Little Rock “Republican.” He received the nomination of the republicans for the state senate, but failed to secure his seat, though he claimed to have been elected by 2,000 majority. Mr. Blackburn is known as an occasional writer of verse. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 272-273.

Blackford, Mary Berkeley Minor, Fredericksburg, Virginia.  Active supporter of the American Colonization Society, along with her husband, newspaper publisher William Blackford.  Freed some of her slaves for colonization to Africa.  (Burin, 2005, pp. 39, 51, 60, 101; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 110)

Blackford, William Maxwell, Fredericksburg, Virginia, newspaper publisher.  Owner of the newspaper, Arena, which endorsed  and sponsored the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 109-157, 179)

Blagdon, George W., Boston, Massachusetts.  Supporter of the American Colonization Society.  Raised funds for the Society in Boston.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 214)

Blake, James H., Member of the Memorial Committee and Founding Manager of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Bleeker, Harmanus, 1779-1849, Albany, New York, attorney, U.S. congressman.  Founder and officer of the Albany auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 291-292; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 81, 129)

BLEECKER, Harmanus, lawyer, b. in Albany, N. Y., 19 Oct., 1779; d. there, 19 July, 1849. He studied at Union, but before the completion of his course was admitted to the bar in Albany, where he practised many years as a partner of Theodore Sedgwick. Afterward he was elected to congress as a federalist, serving from 4 Nov., 1811, till 3 March, 1813. His career in congress was memorable for his opposition to the war of 1812. From 1822 till 1834 he was a regent of the University of the State of New York. In 1839 he was appointed chargé d’affaires at the Hague, where he remained until 1842, when he returned to Albany, N. Y. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Bond, Thomas E., Dr., Maryland, physician.  Vice President and founding member of the Maryland State Colonization Society in 1831.  Founder of the University of Maryland Medical School.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 19-20)

Boorman, James, 1783-1866, New York, merchant, philanthropist.  Vice President, 1838-1841, of the American Colonization Society.  (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 316; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. I, Pt. 2, pp. 443-444; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

BOORMAN, James, merchant, b. in Kent co., England, in 1783; d. in New York city, 24 Jan., 1866. He accompanied his parents to the United States when about twelve years of age, was apprenticed to Divie Bethune, of New York, and entered into partnership with him in 1805. Afterward, in connection with John Johnston, he formed the firm of Boorman & Johnston, which almost entirely controlled the Dundee trade, and dealt largely in Swedish iron and Virginia tobacco. Mr. Boorman was one of the pioneers in the construction of the Hudson river railroad, and was for many years its president. He was also one of the founders of the Bank of Commerce. He retired from active business in 1855. The institution for the blind, the Protestant half-orphan asylum, the southern aid society, and the union theological seminary were among the recipients of his bounty. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 316.

Booth, Mord, founding charter member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Bowers, Carr, Dr., Southampton, Virginia, magistrate.  Supported American Colonization Society and became a life member.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 179)

Bowne, Walter, New York, New York, Mayor of New York City.  Officer in the New York City auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Strong advocate of colonization.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 130, 135)

Boyd, George, Reverend, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, clergyman, lawyer, Rector of St. John’s, Philadelphia.  Agent for the American Colonization Society.  Successful in founding auxiliaries and recruiting members.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 85-86)

Bradley, Phineas, Washington, DC, Manager, American Colonization Society, 1834-39.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Branch, John, 1782-1863, Raleigh, North Carolina, statesman, political leader, Secretary of the Navy, Governor of North Carolina.  President, Raleight auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 358; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, p. 594; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

BRANCH, John, secretary of the navy, b. in Halifax, N. C., 4 Nov., 1782; d. in Enfield, N. C., 4 Jan., 1863. After graduation at the university of North Carolina in 1801, he studied law, became judge of the superior court, and was a state senator from 1811 till 1817, in 1822, and again in 1834. He was elected governor of his state in 1817, and from 1823 till 1829 was U. S. senator, resigning in the latter year, when he was appointed secretary of the navy by President Jackson. He held this office till 1831, when the cabinet broke up, more on account of social than political dissensions, as was commonly thought. A letter from Sec. Branch on the subject is published in Niles's “Register” (vol. xli.). Judge Branch was elected to congress as a democrat in 1831. In 1838 he was defeated as democratic candidate for governor of his state, and in 1844-'5 was governor of the territory of Florida, serving until the election of a governor under the state constitution.  Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Brand, Benjamin, Richmond, Virginia.  Treasurer of the Richmond auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 109)

Breathitt, John, 1798-1834, Kentucky, lawyer, political leader, Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky.  Strong supporter of the American Colonization Society, and of colonization.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 363; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 139)

BREATHITT, John, governor of Kentucky, b. near New London, Va., 9 Sept., 1786; d. in Frankfort, Ky., 21 Feb., 1834. He removed with his father to Kentucky in 1800, was a surveyor and teacher, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1810. He was an earnest Jacksonian democrat, and for several years was a member of the legislature. He was lieutenant-governor of Kentucky in 1828-'32, and governor in 1832-'4. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Breckinridge, James, 1763-1833, lawyer, founding officer and charter member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, in 1816.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 364; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 1, p. 5; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

BRECKENRIDGE, James, lawyer, b. near Fincastle, Botetourt co., Va., 7 March, 1763; d. in Fincastle, 9 Aug., 1846. He was a grandson of a Scottish covenanter, who escaped to America on the restoration of the Stuarts. James served, in 1781, in Col. Preston’s rifle regiment under Greene, was graduated at William and Mary college in 1785, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1787, and began practice in Fincastle. He was for several years a member of the general assembly of Virginia, and a leader of the old federal party in that body, and from 22 May, 1809, till 3 March, 1817, represented the Botetourt district in congress. He was a candidate for governor against James Monroe. He co-operated with Thomas Jefferson in founding the university of Virginia, and was one of the most active promoters of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Breckinridge, John, Reverend, 1797-1841, Maryland, clergyman.  Board of Managers, Maryland Society of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 365; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 1, p. 7; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 111, 231, 235)

BRECKENRIDGE, John, clergyman, son of John, b. at Cabell’s Dale, near Lexington, Ky., 4 July, 1797; d. there, 4. Aug., 1841, was graduated at Princeton in 1818, united with the Presbyterian church while in college, and chose the clerical profession, although his father had intended him for the law. He was licensed to preach in 1822 by the presbytery of New Brunswick, and in 1822-'3 served as chaplain to congress. On 10 Sept., 1823, he was ordained pastor of a church in Lexington, Ky., over which he presided four years. While there he founded a religious newspaper called the “Western Luminary.” In 1826 he was called to the 2d Presbyterian church of Baltimore as colleague of Dr. Glendy, and in 1831 he removed to Philadelphia, having been appointed secretary and general agent of the Presbyterian board of education. This place he resigned in 1836, to become professor of theology in the Princeton seminary. While occupying that chair he engaged in a public controversy with Archbishop Hughes, of New York, on the subject of the doctrines of their respective churches, and their arguments have been published in a volume entitled “A Discussion of the Question, ‘Is the Roman Catholic Religion, in any or in all its Principles or Doctrines, inimical to Civil or Religious Liberty?’—and of the Question, ‘Is the Presbyterian Religion, in any or all its Principles or Doctrines, inimical to Civil or Religious Liberty?’” (Philadelphia, 1836). Mr. Breckenridge took a prominent part in the controversies in the Presbyterian church, upholding, in the discussions in presbyteries, synods, and general assemblies, the principles of old-school Presbyterianism, and published a number of polemical writings. He was a keen debater, and was noted for his concise, accurate, and logical extempore speeches and sermons. He became secretary and general agent of the Presbyterian board of foreign missions upon its organization in 1838, and devoted his energies to superintending its operations until he broke down under his exhaustive labors, and died while on a visit to his early home. Just before his death he received a call to the presidency of Oglethorpe university in Georgia. In 1839 he published a “Memorial of Mrs. Breckenridge.” Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Breckinridge, Robert Jefferson, 1800-1871, Kentucky, lawyer, clergyman, state legislator, anti-slavery activist.  Supported gradual emancipation.  Opponent of slavery and important advocate for colonization and the American Colonization Society (ACS).  He argued emancipation was the goal of African colonization and it was justified.  He worked with ACS agent Robert S. Finley to establish auxiliaries.  (Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 1, p. 10; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 144-145, 183, 231)

Brice, Nicholas, Baltimore, Maryland, jurist.  Board of Managers of the Maryland American Colonization Society.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 18, 19, 38, 52, 193; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 111)

Broadnax, William H., Dinwiddie County, Virginia, Virginia state lawmaker.  Formerly supported the American Colonization Society (ACS) in the Virginia state legislature.  He stated that slavery was a “mildew which has blighted in its course every region it has touched, from the creation of the world.”  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 181)

Brown, Nicholas, Providence, Rhode Island, Vice-President, 1837-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 86)

Brown, Obadiah B., Reverend, Washington, DC, Baptist clergyman, founding officer and Board of Managers, American Colonization Society, 1816, Manager, 1833-34.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 30, 109)

Brownell, Thomas Church, Bishop, 1779-1865, Connecticut, clergyman, college president, author.  Member and supporter or the Connecticut Society of the American Colonization society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 414-415; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 1, p. 171; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 126)

BROWNELL, Thomas Church, P. E. bishop, b. in West port, Mass., 19 Oct., 1779; d. in Hartford, Conn., 13 Jan., 1865. His early education was in a common school, in which he himself served as teacher at the age of fifteen. Preparing for college at Bristol academy, Taunton, he entered Brown just before attaining his majority. At the close of his sophomore year he followed President Maxcy to Union, where he was graduated with the honors of the valedictory in 1804. In the following year he was appointed tutor in Greek and Latin, and in 1806 professor of logic and belles-lettres; then, after three years, having spent a year in Great Britain and Ireland in the study of chemistry and kindred sciences and in pedestrian excursions, he entered upon new duties as lecturer on chemistry, and in 1814 was elected professor of rhetoric and chemistry. Having become convinced of the historical and scriptural grounds of Episcopacy, as opposed to the Calvinistic Congregationalism in which he had been educated and to the ministry of which he had meant to devote himself, he was baptized and confirmed in 1813, and, after pursuing the study of theology in connection with his academic duties, was ordained deacon by Bishop Hobart in New York, 11 April, 1816. In 1818 he was elected assistant minister of Trinity church, New York, and in the following June the convention of the diocese of Connecticut chose him to the episcopate, which had been vacant for six years. He was consecrated, 27 Oct., 1819, in Trinity church, New Haven, by Bishops White, Hobart, and Griswold. Bishop Brownell entered upon his duties in Connecticut at a very important time. The adoption of a state constitution in 1818 had caused the overthrow of the Congregational “Standing Order,'” and effected a revolution, political, social, and religious. The new bishop made good use of his learning and his quiet, practical wisdom, and laid hold of his opportunities. The efforts to establish a church college in Connecticut were renewed, and in 1823 the charter of Washington college (now Trinity), Hartford, was granted by the legislature, and Bishop Brownell was elected its first president. In the winter of 1829-'30, at the request of the general missionary society of the church, he visited the south, travelling down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. He officiated as bishop in Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama, and assisted in organizing the church in the two last-named states. A second visit to the church in the south was paid in 1834. In 1831, at the request of the convention of the diocese, Bishop Brownell withdrew from the presidency of the college, and was given the honorary office of chancellor, the active duties of the episcopate demanding all his time. These duties called for no little amount of literary labor, and his publications were of much use to his people. In 1851, on account of growing infirmities, Bishop Brownell asked for an assistant, and the Rev. John Williams, D. D., president of Trinity college, was chosen. The senior bishop officiated from time to time as he was able, his last public service being in 1860. During the forty-five years of his episcopate, for the last twelve of which he had been, by seniority, residing bishop of the Episcopal church in the United States, he had seen the number of the clergy of his diocese increase fivefold, and he himself had ordained 179 deacons and confirmed over 15,000 persons; and the small number of parishes that he found in 1819, of which but seven could support full services, had increased to 129. A colossal statue of him, the gift of his son-in-law, Gordon W. Burnham, stands on the campus of Trinity college. Bishop Brownell was for many years president of the corporation of the retreat for the insane at Hartford. Among his publications, which included sermons, charges, and addresses, are “The Family Prayer-Book,” an edition of the Book of Common Prayer, with ample explanatory and devotional notes, chiefly from English authors (New York, 1823); “Selections on the Religion of the Heart and Life” (Hartford, 1840); “The Christian’s Walk and Consolation,” and an abridgment of an English commentary on the New Testament. His charge to his clergy, in 1843, on the “Errors of the Times,” called forth an animated discussion on the contrasted doctrines and usages of Episcopalianism and Puritanism. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Brune, Frederick W., Baltimore, Maryland.  Leader, Maryland State Colonization Society.  (Campbell,1971, p. 192)

Buchanan, Thomas, Executive Committee, American Colonization Society, 1839-40.  First Governor of the Commonwealth of Liberia.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 131-132; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 241)

Burgess, Ebenezer, Burlington, Vermont, educator.  Agent of the American Colonization Society.  Went to Africa with Samuel J. Mills.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 41-47, 54, 59, 156)

Burnet, Jacob, 1770-1853, born in Newark, New Jersey, Cincinnati, Ohio, jurist, lawyer, college president.  Ohio Supreme Court Justice.  Vice-President, 1836-1841, American Colonization Society (ACS).  Member and first President of the Cincinnati auxiliary of the ACS.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 458; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 1, p. 294; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 138-140)

BURNET, Jacob, jurist, b. in Newark, N. J., 22 Feb., 1770; d. in Cincinnati, Ohio, 10 May, 1853, was graduated at Princeton in 1791, studied law in the office of Judge Boudinot, and was admitted to the bar in 1796. The same year he removed to Ohio, where he became distinguished as a lawyer and was a leading citizen in the new settlement of Cincinnati. In 1799 he was appointed to the legislative council of the territory, continuing a member of that body, in which he took the most prominent part in the preparation of legislative measures, until the formation of a state government. In 1812 he was a member of the state legislature, a judge of the supreme court of Ohio in 1821-'8, and in 1828-'31 U. S. senator. He was chosen by the legislature of Kentucky a commissioner to adjust certain territorial disputes with Virginia. He took part in the establishment of the Lancastrian academy in Cincinnati, and was one of the founders of the Cincinnati college, and its first president, and was active in reorganizing the Medical college of Ohio. He was a delegate to the Harrisburg convention in 1839, and was mainly instrumental in securing the nomination of Harrison to the presidency. He was the first president of the Colonization society of Cincinnati. His efforts to alleviate the distress felt by purchasers of western lands, on account of indebtedness to the government which they were unable to discharge, resulted in an act of congress granting relief to the entire west, extricating the settlers from serious financial distress. The debt due to the government amounted to $22,000,000, exceeding the volume of currency in circulation in the west, and threatening both farmers and speculators with bankruptcy. The people of the southwest were in the same situation; all the banks had suspended payment, and forcible resistance was threatened if the government should attempt to dispossess the settlers. Judge Burnett drew up a memorial to congress, proposing a release of back interest and permission to settlers to relinquish as much of the land entered as they were unable to pay for. The memorial was generally approved by the inhabitants of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, and in 1821 congress granted relief in the form desired. In 1830 Judge Burnett secured the revocation of the forfeiture of the congressional land-grant to the state of Ohio for the extension of the Miami canal, and an additional grant that emboldened the legislature of Ohio to carry out the work. He published “Notes on the Early Settlement of the Northwestern Territory” (New York, 1847). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Burr, David I., Virginia, businessman.  Member and active supporter of the Richmond auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 109-189)

Butler, Benjamin Franklin, 1818-1893, New York, attorney, political leader, opponent of slavery, Civil War Union General, Republican member of the U.S. Congress.  Founding member and officer of the Albany auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  As Union General, he refused to return runaway slaves to Southerners at Fort Monroe.  This led to a federal policy of calling enslaved individuals who fled to Union lines contraband of war.  (Burin, 2005, p. 162; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 477-478; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 1, p. 357; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 81, 129, 178, 224)

BUTLER, Benjamin Franklin, lawyer, b. in Deerfield, N. H., 5 Nov., 1818. He is the son of Capt. John Butler, who served under Jackson at New Orleans. He was graduated at Waterville college (now Colby university), Maine, in 1838, was admitted to the bar in 1840, began practice at Lowell, Mass., in 1841, and has since had a high reputation as a lawyer, especially in criminal cases. He early took a prominent part in politics on the democratic side, and was elected a member of the Massachusetts house of representatives in 1853, and of the state senate in 1859. In 1860 he was a delegate to the democratic national convention that met at Charleston. When a portion of the delegates reassembled at Baltimore, Mr. Butler, after taking part in the opening debates and votes, announced that a majority of the delegates from Massachusetts would not further participate in the deliberations of the convention, on the ground that there had been a withdrawal in part of the majority of the states; and further, he added, “upon the ground that I would not sit in a convention where the African slave-trade, which is piracy by the laws of my country, is approvingly advocated.” In the same year he was the unsuccessful democratic candidate for governor of Massachusetts. At the time of President Lincoln's call for troops in April, 1861, he held the commission of brigadier-general of militia. On the 17th of that month he marched to Annapolis with the 8th Massachusetts regiment, and was placed in command of the district of Annapolis, in which the city of Baltimore was included. On 13 May, 1861, he entered Baltimore at the head of 900 men, occupied the city without opposition, and on 16 May was made a major-general, and assigned to the command of Fort Monroe and the department of eastern Virginia. While he was here, some slaves that had come within his lines were demanded by their masters; but he refused to deliver them up on the ground that they were contraband of war; hence arose the designation of “contrabands,” often applied to slaves during the war. In August he captured Forts Hatteras and Clark on the coast of North Carolina. He then returned to Massachusetts to recruit an expedition for the gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi. On 23 March, 1862, the expedition reached Ship island, and on 17 April went up the Mississippi. The fleet under Farragut having passed the forts, 24 April, and virtually captured New Orleans, Gen. Butler took possession of the city on 1 May. His administration of affairs was marked by great vigor. He instituted strict sanitary regulations, armed the free colored men, and compelled rich secessionists to contribute toward the support of the poor of the city. His course in hanging William Mumford for hauling down the U. S. flag from the mint, and in issuing “Order No. 28,” intended to prevent women from insulting soldiers, excited strong resentment, not only in the south, but in the north and abroad, and in December, 1862, Jefferson Davis issued a proclamation declaring him an outlaw. On 10 May, 1862, Gen. Butler seized about $800,000 which had been deposited in the office of the Dutch consul, claiming that arms for the confederates were to be bought with it. This action was protested against by all the foreign consuls, and the government at Washington, after an investigation, ordered the return of the money. On 16 Dec., 1862, Gen. Butler was recalled, as he believes, at the instigation of Louis Napoleon, who supposed the general to be hostile to his Mexican schemes. Near the close of 1863 he was placed in command of the department of Virginia and North Carolina, and his force was afterward designated as the Army of the James. In October, 1864, there being apprehensions of trouble in New York during the election, Gen. Butler was sent there with a force to insure quiet. In December he conducted an ineffectual expedition against Fort Fisher, near Wilmington, N. C., and soon afterward was removed from command by Gen. Grant. He then returned to his residence in Massachusetts. In 1866 he was elected by the republicans a member of congress, where he remained till 1879, with the exception of the term for 1875-'7. He was the most active of the managers appointed in 1868 by the house of representatives to conduct the impeachment of President Johnson. He was the unsuccessful republican nominee for governor of Massachusetts in 1871; and in 1878 and 1879, having changed his politics, was the candidate of the independent greenback party and of one wing of the democrats for the same office, but was again defeated. In 1882 the democrats united upon him as their candidate, and he was elected, though the rest of the state ticket was defeated. During his administration he made a charge of gross mismanagement against the authorities of the Tewksbury almshouse; but, after a long investigation, a committee of the legislature decided that it was not sustained. In 1883 he was renominated, but was defeated. In 1884 he was the candidate of the greenback and anti-monopolist parties for the presidency, and received 133,825 votes.—His wife, Sarah, a daughter of Dr. Israel Hildreth, of Lowell, b. in 1821; d. in Boston, Mass., 8 April, 1876, was on the stage from 1837 till 1842, when she married Gen. Butler and retired. Their daughter married Gen. Adelbert Ames, of the U. S. army. See “General Butler in New Orleans,” by James Parton (New York, 1863). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

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Caldwell, Elias Boudinet, founding officer and first Secretary of the American Colonization society, Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Burin, 2005, p. 14; Campbell, 1971, p. 7; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 24-27, 29, 30, 74, 97)

Caldwell, Joseph, Dr., Reverend, 1773-1835, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, university president.  Chief officer of the Chapel Hill auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 497-498; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 1, p. 409; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

CALDWELL, Joseph, educator, b. in Lammington, N. J., 21 April, 1773; d. in Chapel Hill, N. C., 24 Jan., 1835. He was graduated at Princeton in 1791, delivering the Latin salutatory, and then taught school in Lammington and Elizabethtown, where he began the study of divinity. He became tutor at Princeton in April, 1795, and in 1796 was appointed professor of mathematics in the University of North Carolina. He found the institution, then only five years old, in a feeble state, nearly destitute of buildings, library, and apparatus, and to him is ascribed the merit of having saved it from ruin. He was made its president in 1804, and held the office till his death, with the exception of the years from 1812 till 1817. Princeton gave him the degree of D. D. in 1816. In 1824 he visited Europe to purchase apparatus and select books for the library of the university. A monument to his memory has been erected in the grove surrounding the university buildings. Dr. Caldwell published “A Compendious System of Elementary Geometry,” with a subjoined treatise on plane trigonometry (1822), and “Letters of Carleton” (1825). The latter had previously appeared in a newspaper in Raleigh, and were designed to awaken an interest in internal improvements. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Campbell, George W., Reverend, South Berwick, Maine.  Agent of the American Colonization Society.  Toured northern New York and Vermont.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 131)

Campbell, Robert, Georgia, Vice-President, 1838-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Canning, Stratford, British Minister to the United States.  Supporter of the American Colonization society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 70)

Carberry, Thomas, charter member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, in 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Carey, Mathew, 1760-1839, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, publisher, philanthropist.  Strong advocate for colonization and the American Colonization Society.  Printed pamphlets for the Society, “Letters on the Colonization Society.”  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 524-525; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 1, p. 491; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 128, 183, 215)

CAREY, Mathew, publisher, b. in Ireland, 28 Jan., 1760; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 16 Sept., 1839. He received a liberal education, and when he was fifteen years old his father gave him a list of twenty-five trades from which to make the choice of his life-work. He selected the business of printer and bookseller, and two years afterward brought out his first pamphlet, a treatise on duelling, followed by an address to Irish Catholics, so inflammatory that young Carey was obliged to avoid prosecution by flight to Paris. During his stay there he became acquainted with Benjamin Franklin, then representing the United States at the court of Versailles, who gave him employment. Returning to Ireland after a year's stay, he established a new paper called the “Volunteer’s Journal,” which, by its bold and able opposition to the government, became a power in politics, and eventually brought about the legislative independence of Ireland. A too violent attack upon parliament and the ministry led to his arraignment before the house of commons for libel in 1784, and he was imprisoned until the dissolution of parliament. After his liberation he sailed for America, reaching Philadelphia, 15 Nov., 1784, and two months afterward began to publish “The Pennsylvania Herald,” the first newspaper in the United States that furnished accurate reports of legislative debates, Carey acting as his own reporter. He fought a duel with Col. Oswald, editor of a rival journal, and received a wound that confined him to his house for more than sixteen months. Soon after this he began the publication of “The American Museum,” which he conducted for six years. In 1791 he married, and opened a small bookselling shop. During the yellow-fever epidemic two years later he was a member of the committee of health, and tireless in his efforts for the relief of sufferers. The results of his extensive observation were collected and published in his “History of the Yellow Fever of 1793.” In the same year he founded the Hibernian society. In 1796 he was one of a few citizens who, under the direction of Bishop White, formed the first American Sunday-school society. With characteristic vigor he engaged in the discussions concerning the United States bank, writing articles for newspapers and publishing pamphlets, which he distributed at his own expense. In 1814 appeared his “Olive Branch, or Faults on Both Sides, Federal and Democratic,” designed to harmonize the antagonistic parties of the country pending the war with Great Britain. It passed through ten editions, and is still a recognized authority in regard to the political history of the period. In 1819 he published his “Vindici­æ Hibernicæ,” an examination and refutation of the charges against his countrymen in reference to the butcheries alleged to have been committed by them in the rebellion of 1641. From this time he devoted himself almost exclusively to politico-commercial pursuits, publishing in 1820 the “New Olive Branch,” in which he endeavored to show how harmonious were the real interests of the various classes of society, and in 1822 “Essays on Political Economy.” This was followed by a series of tracts extending to more than 2,000 pages. The object of all these was to demonstrate the necessity of the protective system as the only means of advancing the real interests of all classes in the community. He was active in the promotion of all the public works of the city and state, and advocated the system of internal improvements that led to the construction of the Pennsylvania canals. He interested himself in forwarding education and in establishing the charitable institutions for which Philadelphia is now famous. In 1833-'4 he contributed his autobiography to the “New England Magazine.”  Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Carr, Overton, founding charger member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Carrington, William, Virginia.  Strong supporter of the American Colonization Society.  Contributed funds to the Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Carroll, Charles, 1737-1832, Carrollton, Maryland, signer of the Declaration of Independence.  President of the American Colonization Society (ACS).  Head of the Baltimore auxiliary of the ACS.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 536-537; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 1, p. 522; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 70, 110-111, 183)

CARROLL, Charles, of Carrollton, last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. in Annapolis, Md., 20 Sept., 1737; d. in Baltimore, 14 Nov., 1832. The sept of the O’Carrolls was one of the most ancient and powerful in Ireland. They were princes and lords of Ely from the 12th to the 16th century. They sprang from the kings of Munster, and intermarried with the great houses of Ormond and Desmond in Ireland, and Argyll in Scotland. Charles Carroll, grandfather of Carroll of Carrollton, was a clerk in the office of Lord Powis in the reign of James II., and emigrated to Maryland upon the accession of William and Mary in 1689. In 1691 he was appointed judge and register of the land-office, and agent and receiver for Lord Baltimore's rents. His son Charles was born in 1702, and died in 1782, leaving his son Charles, the signer, whose mother was Elizabeth Brook. Carroll of Carrollton, at the age of eight years, was sent to France to be educated under the care of the Society of Jesus, which had controlled the Roman Catholics of Maryland since its foundation. He remained six years in the Jesuit college at St. Omer's, one year in their college at Rheims, and two years in the college of Louis Le Grand. Thence he went for a year to Bourges to study civil law, and from there he returned to college at Paris. In 1757 he entered the Middle Temple, London, for the study of the common law, and returned to Maryland in 1765. In June, 1768, he married Mary Darnall, daughter of Col. Henry Darnall, a young lady of beauty, fortune, and ancient family. Carroll found the public mind in a ferment over many fundamental principles of government and of civil liberty. In a province founded by Roman Catholics on the basis of religious toleration, the education of Catholics in their own schools had been prohibited by law, and Carroll himself had just returned from a foreign land, whither he had been driven by the intolerance of his home authorities to seek a liberal education. Not only were Roman Catholics under the ban of disfranchisement, but all persons of every faith and no faith were taxed to support the established church, which was the church of England. The discussion as to the right of taxation for the support of religion soon extended from the legislature to the public press. Carroll, over the signature “The First Citizen,” in a series of articles in the “Maryland Gazette,” attacked the validity of the law imposing the tax. The church establishment was defended by Daniel Dulany, leader of the colonial bar, whose ability and learning were so generally acknowledged that his opinions were quoted as authority on colonial law in Westminster hall, and are published to this day, as such, in the Maryland law reports. In this discussion Carroll acquitted himself with such ability that he received the thanks of public meetings all over the province, and at once became one of the “first citizens.” In December, 1774, he was appointed one of the committee of correspondence for the province, as one of the initial steps of the revolution in Maryland, and in 1775 was elected one of the council of safety. He was elected delegate to the revolutionary convention from Anne Arundel co., which met at Annapolis, 7 Dec., 1775. In January, 1776, he was appointed by the Continental congress one of the commissioners to go to Canada and induce those colonies to unite with the rest in resistance to Great Britain. On 4 July, 1776, he, with Matthew Tilghman, Thomas Johnson, William Paca, Samuel Chase, Thomas Stone, and Robert Alexander, was elected deputy from Maryland to the Continental congress. On 12 Jan., 1776, Maryland had instructed her deputies in congress not to consent to a declaration of independence without the knowledge and approbation of the convention. Mainly owing to the zealous efforts of Carroll and his subsequent colleagues, the Maryland convention, on 28 June, 1776, had rescinded this instruction, and unanimously directed its representatives in congress to unite in declaring “the united colonies free and independent states,” and on 6 July declared Maryland a free, sovereign, and independent state. Armed with this authority, Carroll took his seat in congress at Philadelphia, 18 July, 1776, and on 2 Aug., 1776, with the rest of the deputies of the thirteen states, signed the Declaration of Independence. It is said that he affixed the addition “of Carrollton” to his signature in order to distinguish him from his kinsman, Charles Carroll, barrister and to assume the certain responsibility himself of his act. He was made a member of the board of war, and served in congress until 10 Nov., 1776. In December, 1776, he was chosen a member of the first senate of Maryland, in 1777 again sent to congress, serving on the committee that visited Valley Forge to investigate complaints against Gen. Washington, and in 1788 elected the first senator from the state of Maryland under the constitution of the United States. He drew the short term of two years in the federal senate in 1791, and was again elected to the state senate, remaining there till 1801. In 1797 he was one of the commissioners to settle the boundary-line between Maryland and Virginia. On 23 April, 1827, he was elected one of the directors of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company, and on 4 July, 1828, laid the foundation-stone of the beginning of that undertaking. His biographer, John H. B. Latrobe, writes to the senior editor of this Cyclopædia: “After I had finished my work I took it to Mr. Carroll, whom I knew very well indeed, and read it to him, as he was seated in an arm-chair in his own room in his son-in-law's house in Baltimore. He listened with marked attention and without a comment until I had ceased to read, when, after a pause, he said: ‘Why, Latrobe, you have made a much greater man of me than I ever thought I was; and yet really you have said nothing in what you have written that is not true.’ . . . In my mind's eye I see Mr. Carroll now—a small, attenuated old man, with a prominent nose and somewhat receding chin, small eyes that sparkled when he was interested in conversation. His head was small and his hair white, rather long and silky, while his face and forehead were seamed with wrinkles. But, old and feeble as he seemed to be, his manner and speech were those of a refined and courteous gentleman, and you saw at a glance whence came by inheritance the charm of manner that so eminently distinguished his son, Charles Carroll of Homewood, and his daughters, Mrs. Harper and Mrs. Caton.” The accompanying view represents his spacious mansion, known as Carrollton, still owned and occupied by his descendants. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Carroll, George A., founding charger member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Carroll, Henry, founding member and Manager of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Cary, Lott, 1780-1828, Charles City co., Virginia, formerly enslaved individual.  Vice President, American Colonization Society, in 1828.  (Burin, 2005, pp. 16-17, 67, 68; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 548; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 1, p. 555)

CARY, Lott, negro slave, b. in Charles City co., Va., in 1780; d. in Monrovia, Africa, 8 Nov., 1828. In 1804 he was sent to Richmond, and hired out as a common laborer. Gifted with a high order of native intelligence, he soon taught himself, with slight assistance, to read and write, and, having a remarkable memory and sense of order, he became one of the best shipping-clerks in the Richmond tobacco warehouses. Until 1807 he was an unbeliever, but during that year became converted to Christianity, and was ever afterward a leader among the Baptists of his own color. In 1813 he purchased his own freedom and that of his two children for $850. As a freeman he maintained his habits of industry and economy, and when the colonization scheme was organized had accumulated a sum sufficiently large to enable him to pay his own expenses as a member of the colony sent out to the African coast in 1822. He was with the colony during its early wars with the barbarous natives, and rendered invaluable services as a counsellor, physician, and pastor. He was elected vice-agent of the colonization society in 1826, and during the absence of Mr. Ashmun, the agent, acted in his place. On the evening of 8 Nov., 1828, he was making cartridges in anticipation of an attack from slave-traders, when an accidental explosion fatally injured him and seven of his companions. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Chalmers, John, Jr., charter member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, in December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258)

Chambers, Ezekiel Forman, 1788-1867, Maryland, jurist, soldier, U.S. Senator from Maryland.  Supported the American Colonization Society (ACS) in the Senate.  Proposed bill in Senate to support the ACS with federal funding.  Defended colonization from detractors.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 566; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 1, p. 602; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 176, 207)

CHAMBERS, Ezekiel F., senator, b. in Kent county, Md., 28 Feb., 1788; d. in Charleston, Md., 30 Jan., 1867. He was graduated at Washington college, Md., in 1805, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1808. He performed military service in the war of 1812, and subsequently attained the rank of brigadier-general of militia. Though elected in 1822 to the state senate against his will, he took an active part in the legislation of that body, and in 1825 arranged a system for the more effectual recovery of slaves. In 1826 he was elected U. S. senator from Maryland, and in 1832 re-elected. He distinguished himself as one of the ablest debaters and antagonists in that body. In 1834 he was appointed chief judge of the second judicial district and a judge of the court of appeals, which places he held till 1857, when the Maryland judiciary became elective. In 1850 he was a member of the constitutional convention of the state. In 1852 President Fillmore offered him the post of secretary of the navy on the resignation of Sec. Graham, but the condition of his health compelled him to decline. Yale conferred on him the degree of LL. D. in 1833, and Delaware in 1852. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Chase, Jeremiah Townly, Annapolis, Maryland, Chief Justice of the Maryland Court of Appeals.  Member of the Annapolis auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 70)

Christy, David, traveling agent of the American Colonization Society in Ohio.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 242)

Clarke, J. C., New York, Director, American Colonization Society, 1840-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Clarke, John, Milledgeville, Georgia, Governor of Georgia, member of the Milledgeville auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

Clarke, Matthew E., Washington, DC, Manager, American Colonization Society, 1835-39, Executive Committee, 1839-40.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Clay, Henry, 1777-1852, Kentucky, statesman, political leader, U.S. Senator, Congressman, Speaker of the House of Representatives, 12^th, 13^th, and 18^th Congress, Presidential candidate.  Founder of the American Colonization Society and its President from 1837-1852, Vice President, 1833-1837.  (Blue, 2005, pp. 11, 24, 27, 29, 47, 50-51, 55, 123-124, 166-167; Burin, 2005, pp. 1, 14, 17, 22, 23, 25, 27, 38; Campbell, 1971, pp. 7, 10, 203; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 640; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 2, p. 173; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 27-29, 30, 113, 116, 139, 143, 174, 184-187, 207, 245)

CLAY, Henry, statesman, b. in Hanover county, Va., in a district known as “The Slashes,” 12  April, 1777; d. Washington, D. C., 29 June, introduced resolutions expressing approval of the 1852. His father, a Baptist clergyman, died when Henry was four years old, leaving no fortune.  Henry received some elementary instruction in a log school-house, doing farm and house work when not at school. His mother married again and removed to Kentucky. When fourteen years of age he was placed in a small retail store at Richmond, and in 1792 obtained a place in the office of Peter Tinsley, clerk of the high court of chancery. There he attracted the attention of Chancellor Whyte, who employed him as an amanuensis, and directed his course of reading. In 1796 he began to study law with Robert Brooke, attorney-general of Virginia, and in 1797, having obtained a license to practise law from the judges of the court of appeals, he removed to Lexington, Ky. During his residence in Richmond he had made the acquaintance of several distinguished men of Virginia, and became a leading member of a debating club. At Lexington he achieved his first distinction in a similar society. He soon won a lucrative practice as an attorney, being especially successful in criminal cases and in suits growing out of the land laws. His captivating manners and his striking eloquence made him a general favorite. His political career began almost immediately after his arrival at Lexington. A convention was to be elected to revise the constitution of Kentucky, and in the canvass preceding the election Clay strongly advocated a constitutional provision for the gradual emancipation of the slaves in the state; but the movement was not successful. He also participated vigorously in the agitation against the alien and sedition laws, taking position as a member of the republican party. Several of his speeches, delivered in mass meetings, astonished the hearers by their beauty and force. In 1799 he married Lucretia Hart, daughter of a prominent citizen of Kentucky. In 1803 he was elected to a seat in the state legislature, where he excelled as a debater. In 1806 Aaron Burr passed through Kentucky, where he was arrested on a charge of being engaged in an unlawful enterprise dangerous to the peace of the United States. He engaged Clay's professional services, and Clay, deceived by Burr as to the nature of his schemes, obtained his release.   In the winter of 1806 Clay was appointed to a seat in the U. S. Senate to serve out an unexpired He was at once placed on various committees, and took an active part in the debates, especially in favor of internal improvements. In the summer of 1807 his county sent him again to the legislature, where he was elected speaker of the assembly. He opposed and defeated a bill prohibiting the use of the decisions of British courts and of British works on jurisprudence as authority in the courts of Kentucky. In December, 1808, he introduced resolutions expressing approval of the embargo laid by the general government, denouncing the British orders in council, pledging the general government the active aid of Kentucky in anything determined upon to resist British exactions, and declaring that President Jefferson was entitled to the thanks of the country. He offered another resolution, recommending that the members of the legislature should wear only clothes that were the product of domestic manufacture. This was his first demonstration in favor of the encouragement of home industry. About this resolution he had a quarrel with Humphrey Marshall, which led to a duel, in which both parties were slightly wounded. In the winter of 1809 Clay was again sent to the U. S. senate to fill an unexpired term of two years. He made a speech in favor of encouraging home industries, taking the ground that the country should be enabled to produce all it might need in time of war, and that, while agriculture would remain the dominant interest, it should be aided by the development of domestic manufactures. He also made a report on a bill granting a right of pre-emption to purchasers of public lands in certain cases, and introduced a, bill to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes, and to preserve peace on the frontier, a subject on which he expressed very wise and humane sentiments. During the session of 1810-'1 he defended the administration of Mr. Madison with regard to the occupation of West Florida by the United States by a strong historical argument, at the same time appealing, in glowing language, to the national pride of the American people. He opposed the renewal of the charter of the U. S. bank, notwithstanding Gallatin's recommendation, on the ground of the unconstitutionality of the bank, and contributed much to its defeat.  On the expiration of his term in the senate. Clay was sent to the national house of representatives by the Lexington district in Kentucky, and immediately upon taking his seat, 4 Nov., 1811, was elected speaker by a large majority. Not confining himself to his duties as presiding officer, he took a leading part in debate on almost all important occasions. The difficulties caused by British interference with neutral trade were then approaching a crisis, and Clay put himself at the head of the war party in congress, which was led in the second line by such young statesmen as John C. Calhoun, William Lowndes, Felix Grundy, and Langdon Cheves, and supported by a strong feeling in the south and west. In a series of fiery speeches Clay advocated the calling out of volunteers to serve on land, and the construction of an efficient navy. He expected that the war with Great Britain would be decided by an easy conquest of Canada, and a peace dictated at Quebec. The Madison administration hesitated, but was finally swept along by the war furor created by the young Americans under Clay's lead, and war against Great Britain was declared in June, 1812. Clay spoke at a large number of popular meetings to fill volunteer regiments and to fire the national spirit. In congress, while the events of the war were unfavorable to the United States in consequence of an utter lack of preparation and incompetent leadership, Clay vigorously sustained the administration and the war policy against the attacks of the federalists. Some of his speeches were of a high order of eloquence, and electrified the country. He was re-elected speaker in 1813. On 19 Jan., 1814, he resigned the speakership, having been appointed by President Madison a member of a commission, consisting of John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert Gallatin, to negotiate peace with Great Britain. The American commissioners met the commissioners of Great Britain at Ghent, in the Netherlands, and, after five months of negotiation, during which Mr. Way stoutly opposed the concession to the British of the right of navigating the Mississippi and of meddling with the Indians on territory of the United States, a treaty of peace was signed, 24 Dec., 1814. From Ghent Clay went to Paris, and thence with Adams and Gallatin to London, to negotiate a treaty of commerce with Great Britain. 

After his return to the United States, Mr. Clay declined the mission to Russia, offered by the administration. Having been elected again to the house of representatives, he took his seat on Dec. 4, 1815, and was again chosen speaker. He favored the enactment of the protective tariff of 1816, and also advocated the establishment of a U. S. bank as the fiscal agent of the government, thus reversing his position with regard to that subject. He now pronounced the bank constitutional because it was necessary in order to carry on the fiscal concerns of the government. During the same session he voted to raise the pay of representatives from $6 a day to $1,500 a year, a measure that proved unpopular, and his vote for it came near costing him his seat. He was, however, re-elected, but then voted to make the pay of representatives a per diem of $8, which it remained for a long period. In the session of 1816-'7 he, together with Calhoun, actively supported an internal improvement bill, which President Madison vetoed. In December, 1817, Clay was re-elected speaker. In opposition to the doctrine laid down by Monroe in his first message, that congress did not possess, under the constitution, the right to construct internal improvements, Clay strongly asserted that right in several speeches. With great vigor he advocated the recognition of the independence of the Spanish American colonies, then in a state of revolution, and severely censured what he considered the procrastinating policy of the administration in that respect. In the session of 1818-'9 he criticised, in an elaborate speech, the conduct of Gen. Jackson in the Florida campaign, especially the execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister by Jackson's orders. This was the first collision between Clay and Jackson, and the ill feelings that it engendered in Jackson's mind were never extinguished. At the first session of the 16th congress, in December, 1819, Clay was again elected speaker almost without opposition. In the debate on the treaty with Spain, by which Florida was ceded to the United States, he severely censured the administration for having given up Texas, which he held to belong to the United States as a part of the Louisiana purchase. He continued to urge the recognition of the South American colonies as independent republics. 

In 1819-'20 he took an important part in the struggle in congress concerning the admission of Missouri as a slave state, which created the first great political slavery excitement throughout the country. He opposed the “restriction” clause making the admission of Missouri dependent upon the exclusion of slavery from the state, but supported the compromise proposed by Senator Thomas, of Illinois, admitting Missouri with slavery, but excluding slavery from all the territory north of 36° 30, acquired by the Louisiana purchase. This was the first part of the Missouri compromise, which is often erroneously attributed to Clay. When Missouri then presented herself with a state constitution, not only recognizing slavery, but also making it the duty of the legislature to pass such laws as would be necessary to prevent free negroes or mulattoes from coming into the state, the excitement broke out anew, and a majority in the house of representatives refused to admit Missouri as a state with such a constitution. On Clay's motion, the subject was referred to a special committee, of which he was chairman. This committee of the house joined with a senate committee, and the two unitedly reported in both houses a resolution that Missouri be admitted upon the fundamental condition that the state should never make any law to prevent from settling within its boundaries any description of persons who then or thereafter might become citizens of any state of the Union. This resolution was adopted, and the fundamental condition assented to by Missouri. This was Clay's part of the Missouri compromise, and he received general praise as “the great pacificator.” 

After the adjournment of congress, Clay retired to private life, to devote himself to his legal practice, but was elected to the 18th congress, which met in December, 1823, and was again chosen speaker. He made speeches on internal improvements, advocating a liberal construction of constitutional powers, in favor of sending a commissioner to Greece, and in favor of the tariff law, which became known as the tariff of 1824, giving his policy of protection and internal improvements the name of the “American system.” 

He was a candidate for the presidency at the election of 1824. His competitors were John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and William H. Crawford, each of whom received a larger number of electoral votes than Clay. But, as none of them had received a majority of the electoral vote, the election devolved upon the house of representatives. Clay, standing fourth in the number of electoral votes received, was excluded from the choice, and he used his influence in the house for John Quincy Adams, who was elected. The friends of Jackson and Crawford charged that there was a corrupt understanding between Adams and Clay, and this accusation received color from the fact that Adams promptly offered Clay the portfolio of secretary of state, and Clay accepted it. This was the origin of the “bargain and corruption” charge, which, constantly repeated, pursued Clay during the best part of his public life, although it was disproved by the well-established fact that Clay, immediately after the result of the presidential election in 1824 became known, had declared his determination to use his influence in the house for Adams and against Jackson. As secretary of state under John Quincy Adams, Clay accepted an invitation, presented by the Mexican and Colombian ministers, to send commissioners of the United States to an international congress of American republics, which was to meet on the Isthmus of Panama, to deliberate upon subjects of common interest. The commissioners were appointed, but the Panama congress adjourned before they could reach the appointed place of meeting. In the course of one of the debates on this subject, John Randolph, of Roanoke, denounced the administration, alluding to Adams and Clay as a “combination of the Puritan and the blackleg.” Clay thereupon challenged Randolph to a duel, which was fought on 8 April, 1826, without bloodshed. He negotiated and concluded treaties with Prussia, the Hanseatic republics, Denmark, Colombia, Central America, and Austria. His negotiations with Great Britain concerning the colonial trade resulted only in keeping in force the conventions of 1815 and 1818. He made another treaty with Great Britain, extending the joint occupation of the Oregon country provided for in the treaty of 1818; another referring the differences concerning the northeastern boundary to some friendly sovereign or state for arbitration; and still another concerning the indemnity to be paid by Great Britain for slaves carried off by British forces in the war of 1812. As to his commercial policy, Clay followed the accepted ideas of the times, to establish between the United States and foreign countries fair reciprocity as to trade and navigation. He was made president of the American colonization society, whose object it was to colonize free negroes in Liberia on the coast of Africa. 

In 1828 Andrew Jackson was elected president, and after his inauguration Clay retired to his farm of Ashland, near Lexington, Ky. But, although in private life, he was generally recognized as the leader of the party opposing Jackson, who called themselves “national republicans,” and later “whigs,” Clay, during the years 1829-'31, visited several places in the south as well as in the state of Ohio, was everywhere received with great honors, and made speeches attacking Jackson's administration, mainly on account of the sweeping removals from office for personal and partisan reasons, and denouncing the nullification movement, which in the mean time had been set on foot in South Carolina. Yielding to the urgent solicitation of his friends throughout the country, he consented in 1831 to be a candidate for the U. S. senate, and was elected. In December, 1831, he was nominated as the candidate of the national republicans for the presidency, with John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, for the vice-presidency. As the impending extinguishment of the public debt rendered a reduction of the revenue necessary, Clay introduced in the senate a tariff bill reducing duties on unprotected articles, but keeping them on protected articles, so as to preserve intact the “American system.” The reduction of the revenue thus effected was inadequate, and the anti-tariff excitement in the south grew more intense. The subject of public lands having, for the purpose of embarrassing him as a presidential candidate, been referred to the committee on manufactures, of which he was the leading spirit, he reported against reducing the price of public lands and in favor of distributing the proceeds of the lands' sales, after certain deductions, among the several states for a limited period. The bill passed the senate, but failed to pass the house. As President Jackson, in his several messages, had attacked the U. S. bank, Clay induced the bank, whose charter was to expire in 1836, to apply for a renewal of the charter during the session of 1831-'2, so as to force the issue before the presidential election. The bill renewing the charter passed both houses, but Jackson vetoed it, denouncing the bank in his message as a dangerous monopoly. In the presidential election Clay was disastrously defeated, Jackson receiving 219 electoral votes, and Clay only 49. 

On 19 Nov., 1832, a state convention in South Carolina passed an ordinance nullifying the tariff laws of 1828 and 1832. On 10 Dec., President Jackson issued a proclamation against the nullifiers, which the governor of South Carolina answered with a counter-proclamation. On 12 Feb., 1833, Clay introduced, in behalf of union and peace, a compromise bill providing for a gradual reduction of the tariff until 1842, when it should be reduced to a horizontal rate of 20 per cent. This bill was accepted by the nullifiers, and became a law, known as the compromise of 1833. South Carolina rescinded the nullification ordinance, and Clay was again praised as the “great pacificator.” In the autumn of 1833, President Jackson, through the secretary of the treasury, ordered the removal of the public deposits from the U. S. bank. Clay, in December, 1833, introduced resolutions in the senate censuring the president for having “assumed upon himself authority and power not conferred by the constitution and laws.” The resolutions were adopted, and President Jackson sent to the senate an earnest protest against them, which was severely denounced by Clay. During the session of 1834-'5 Clay successfully opposed Jackson's recommendation that authority be conferred on him for making reprisals upon French property on account of the non-payment by the French government of an indemnity due to the United States. He also advocated the enactment of a law enabling Indians to defend their rights to their lands in the courts of the United States; also the restriction of the president's power to make removals from office, and the repeal of the four-years act. The slavery question having come to the front again, in consequence of the agitation carried on by the abolitionists, Clay, in the session of 1835-'6, pronounced himself in favor of the reception by the senate of anti-slavery petitions, and against the exclusion of anti-slavery literature from the mails. He declared, however, his opposition to the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. With regard to the recognition of Texas as an independent state, he maintained a somewhat cold and reserved attitude. In the session of 1836-'7 he reintroduced his land bill without success, and advocated international copyright. His resolutions censuring Jackson for the removal of the deposits, passed in 1834, were, on the motion of Thomas H. Benton, expunged from the records of the senate, against solemn protests from the whig minority in that body. 

Martin Van Buren was elected president in 1836, and immediately after his inauguration the great financial crisis of 1837 broke out. At an extra session of congress, in the summer of 1837, he recommended the introduction of the sub-treasury system. This was earnestly opposed by Clay, who denounced it as a scheme to “unite the power of the purse with the power of the sword.” He and his friends insisted upon the restoration of the U. S. bank. After a struggle of three sessions, the sub-treasury bill succeeded, and the long existence of the system has amply proved the groundlessness of the fears expressed by those who opposed it. Clay strongly desired to be the whig candidate for the presidency in 1840, but failed. The whig national convention, in December, 1839, nominated Harrison and Tyler. Clay was very much incensed at his defeat, but supported Harrison with great energy, making many speeches in the famous “log-cabin and hard-cider” campaign. After the triumphant election of Harrison and Tyler, Clay declined the office of secretary of state offered to him. Harrison died soon after his inauguration. At the extra session of congress in the summer of 1841, Clay was the recognized leader of the whig majority. He moved the repeal of the sub-treasury act, and drove it through both houses. He then brought in a bill providing for the incorporation of a new bank of the United States, which also passed, but was vetoed by President Tyler, 16 Aug., 1841. Another bank bill, framed to meet what were supposed to be the president's objections, was also vetoed. Clay denounced Tyler instantly for what he called his faithlessness to whig principles, and the whig party rallied under Clay's leadership in opposition to the president. At the same session Clay put through his land bill, containing the distribution clause, which, however, could not go into operation because the revenues of the government fell short of the necessary expenditures. At the next session Clay offered an amendment to the constitution limiting the veto power, which during Jackson's and Tyler's administrations had become very obnoxious to him; and also an amendment to the constitution providing that the secretary of the treasury and the treasurer should be appointed by congress; and a third forbidding the appointment of members of congress, while in office, to executive positions. None of them passed. On 31 March, 1842, Clay took leave of the senate and retired to private life, as he said in his farewell speech, never to return to the senate. 

During his retirement he visited different parts of the country, and was everywhere received with great enthusiasm, delivering speeches, in some of which he pronounced himself in favor hot of a “high tariff,” but of a revenue tariff with incidental protection repeatedly affirming that the protective system had been originally designed only as a temporary arrangement to be maintained until the infant industries should have gained sufficient strength to sustain competition with foreign manufactures. It was generally looked upon as certain that he would be the Whig candidate for the presidency in 1844. In the mean time the administration had concluded a treaty of annexation with Texas. In an elaborate letter, dated 17 April, 1844, known as the “Raleigh letter,” Clay declared himself against annexation, mainly because it would bring on a war with Mexico, because it met with serious objection in a large part of the Union, and because it would compromise the national character. Van Buren, who expected to be the democratic candidate for the presidency, also wrote a letter unfavorable to annexation. On 1 May, 1844, the whig national convention nominated Clay by acclamation. The democratic national convention nominated not Van Buren, but James K. Polk for the presidency, with George M. Dallas for the vice-presidency, and adopted a resolution recommending the annexation of Texas. A convention of anti-slavery men was held at Buffalo, N. Y., which put forward as a candidate for the presidency James G. Birney. The senate rejected the annexation treaty, and the Texas question became the main issue in the presidential canvass. As to the tariff and the currency question, the platforms of the democrats and whigs differed very little. Polk, who had the reputation of being a free-trader, wrote a letter apparently favoring a protective ta riff, to propitiate Pennsylvania, where the cry was raised. “Polk, Dallas, and the tariff of 1842.” Clay, yielding to the entreaties of southern whigs, who feared that his declaration against the annexation of Texas might injure his prospects in the south, wrote another letter, in which he said that, far from having any personal objection to the annexation of Texas, he would be “glad to see it without dishonor, without war, with the common consent of the Union, and upon fair terms.” This turned against him many anti-slavery men in the north, and greatly strengthened the Birney movement. It is believed that it cost him the vote of the state of New York, and with it the election It was charged, apparently upon strong grounds that extensive election frauds were committed by the Democrats in the city of New York and in the state of Louisiana, the latter becoming famous as the Plaquemines frauds; but had Clay kept the anti-slavery element on his side, as it was at the beginning of the canvass, these frauds could not have decided the election. His defeat cast the whig party into the deepest gloom, and was lamented by his supporters like a personal misfortune. 

Texas was annexed by a joint resolution which passed the two houses of congress in the session of 1844-'5, and the Mexican war followed. In 1846, Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, moved, as an amendment to a bill appropriating money for purposes connected with the war, a proviso that in all territories to be acquired from Mexico slavery should be forever prohibited, which, however, failed in the senate. This became known as the “Wilmot proviso.” One of Clay's sons was killed in the battle of Buena Vista. In the autumn of 1847, when the Mexican army was completely defeated, Clay made a speech at Lexington, Ky., warning the American people of the dangers that would follow if they gave themselves up to the ambition of conquest, and declaring that there should be a generous peace, requiring no dismemberment of the Mexican republic, but “only a just and proper fixation of the limits of Texas,” and that any desire to acquire any foreign territory whatever for the purpose of propagating slavery should be “positively and emphatically” disclaimed. In February and March, 1848, Clay was honored with great popular receptions in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, and his name was again brought forward for the presidential nomination. But the whig national convention, which met on 7 June, 1848, preferred Gen. Zachary Taylor as a more available man, with Millard Fillmore for the vice-presidency. His defeat in the convention was a bitter disappointment to Clay. He declined to come forward to the support of Taylor, and maintained during the canvass can attitude of neutrality. The principal reason he gave was that Taylor had refused to pledge himself to the support of whig principles and measures, and that Taylor had announced his purpose to remain in the field as a candidate, whoever might be nominated by the whig convention. He declined, on the other hand, to permit his name to be used by the dissatisfied whigs. Taylor was elected, the free-soilers, whose candidate was Martin Van Buren, having assured the defeat of the democratic candidate, Gen. Cass, in the state of New York. In the spring of 1849 a convention was to be elected in Kentucky to revise the state constitution, and Clay published a letter recommending gradual emancipation of the slaves. By a unanimous vote of the legislature assembled in December, 1848, Clay was again elected a U. S. senator, and he took his seat in December, 1849. 

By the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, New Mexico and California, including Utah, had been acquired by the United States. The discovery of gold had attracted a large immigration to California. Without waiting for an enabling act, the inhabitants of California, in convention, had framed a constitution by which slavery was prohibited, and applied to congress for admission as a state. The question of the admission of California as a free state, and the other question whether slavery should be admitted into or excluded from New Mexico and Utah, created the intensest excitement in congress and among the people. Leading southern men threatened a dissolution of the Union unless slavery were admitted into the territories acquired from Mexico. On 29 Jan., 1850, Clay, who was at heart in favor of the Wilmot proviso, brought forward in the senate a “comprehensive scheme of compromise,” which included (1) the speedy admission of California as a state; (2) the establishment of territorial governments in New Mexico and Utah without any restriction as to slavery; (3) a settlement of the boundary-line between Texas and New Mexico substantially as it now stands; (4) an indemnity to be paid to Texas for the relinquishment of her claims to a large portion of New Mexico; (5) a declaration that slavery should not be abolished in the District of Columbia; (6) the prohibition of the slave-trade in the district; and (7) a more effective fugitive-slave law. These propositions were, on 18 April, 1850, referred to a special committee, of which Clay was elected chairman. He reported three bills embodying these different subjects, one of which, on account of its comprehensiveness, was called the “omnibus bill.” After a long struggle, the omnibus bill was defeated; but then its different parts were taken up singly, and passed; covering substantially Clay's original propositions. This was the compromise of 1850. In the debate Clay declared in the strongest terms his allegiance to the Union as superior to his allegiance to his state, and denounced secession as treason. The compromise of 1850 added greatly to his renown; but, although it was followed by a short period of quiet, it satisfied neither the south nor the north. To the north the fugitive-slave law was especially distasteful. In January, 1851, forty-four senators and representatives, Clay's name leading, published a manifesto declaring that they would not support for any office any man not known to be opposed to any disturbance of the matters settled by the compromise. In February, 1851, a recaptured fugitive slave having been liberated in Boston, Clay pronounced himself in favor of conferring upon the president extraordinary powers for the enforcement of the fugitive-slave law, his main object being to satisfy the south, and thus to disarm the disunion spirit.

After the adjournment of congress, on 4 March, 1851, his health being much impaired, he went to Cuba for relief, and thence to Ashland. He peremptorily enjoined his friends not to bring forward his name again as that of a candidate for the presidency. To a committee of whigs in New York he addressed a public letter containing an urgent and eloquent plea for the maintenance of the Union. He went to Washington to take his seat in the senate in December, 1851, but, owing to failing health, he appeared there only once during the winter. His last public utterance was a short speech addressed to Louis Kossuth, who visited him in his room, deprecating the entanglement of the United States in the complications of European affairs. He favored the nomination of Fillmore for the presidency by the whig national convention, which met on 16 June, a few days before his death. Clay was unquestionably one of the greatest orators that America ever produced; a man of incorruptible personal integrity; of very great natural ability, but little study; of free and convivial habits; of singularly winning address and manners; not a cautious and safe political leader, but a splendid party chief, idolized by his followers. He was actuated by a lofty national spirit, proud of his country, and ardently devoted to the Union. It was mainly his anxiety to keep the Union intact that inspired his disposition to compromise contested questions. He had in his last hours the satisfaction of seeing his last great work, the compromise of 1850, accepted as a final settlement of the slavery question by the national conventions of both political parties. But only two years after his death it became evident that the compromise had settled nothing. The struggle about slavery broke out anew, and brought forth a civil war, the calamity that Clay had been most anxious to prevent, leading to general emancipation, which Clay would have been glad to see peaceably accomplished. He was buried in the cemetery at Lexington, Ky., and a monument consisting of a tall column surmounted by a statue was erected over his tomb. The accompanying illustrations show his birthplace and tomb. See “Life of Henry Clay,” by George D. Prentice (Hartford, Conn., 1831); “Speeches,” collected by R. Chambers (Cincinnati, 1842); “Life and Speeches of Henry Clay,” by J. B. Swaim (New York, 1843); “Life of Henry Clay,” by Epes Sargent (1844, edited and completed by Horace Greeley, 1852); “Life and Speeches of Henry Clay,” by D. Mallory (1844; new ed., 1857); “Life and Times of Henry Clay,” by Rev. Calvin Colton (6 vols., containing speeches and correspondence, 1846-'57; revised ed., 1864); and “Henry Clay,” by Carl Schurz (2 vols., Boston, 1887). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I.

Clayton, George R., Milledgeville, Georgia, State Treasurer of Georgia, member of the Milledgeville auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

Coale, Edward J., Maryland, bookseller.  Manager of the Maryland Society of the American Conolization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 111)

Cocke, John Hartwell, 1780-1866, Fluvanna County, Virginia, general, reformer, temperance advocate.  Vice President, 1833-1841, of the American Colonization Party (ACS).  Life member and supporter of the ACS.  President of two ACS auxiliaries in Albemarle and Fluvanna counties in Virginia.  (Burin, 2005, pp. 38, 44, 61, 63, 102; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 672; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, p. 253)

COCKE, John Hartwell, b. in Surry county, Va., 19 Sept., 1780; d. in Fluvanna county, Va., 1 July, 1866. He was graduated at William and Mary in 1798, and was general commanding the Virginia troops at Camp Carter and Camp Holly, on the Chickahominy, in 1812 and 1813, in defence of the city of Richmond. He was vice-president of the American temperance society and of the American colonization society, and a member of the first board of visitors of the University of Virginia. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 672.

Cogswell, Mason Fitch, Dr., 1731-1830, Hartford, Connecticut, physician.  Member of the Hartford Committee of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 679-680; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 86)

COGSWELL, Mason Fitch, physician, b. in Canterbury, Conn., 28 Sept., 1761; d. in Hartford, Conn., 10 Dec., 1830. His mother died while he was young, and he was adopted by Samuel Huntington, president of the Continental congress and governor of Connecticut, who sent him to Yale, where he was graduated in 1780 as valedictorian of his class, and its youngest member. He studied with his brother James, a surgeon in the Revolutionary army, at the soldiers’ hospital in New York, and became one of the most distinguished surgeons in the country. He married Mary Austin Ledyard, and settled in Hartford, Conn. He was the first to introduce in the United States the operation of removing a cataract from the eye, and also the first to tie the carotid artery (1803). His daughter, Alice, became deaf and dumb from severe illness at an early age, and her father's attention was thus called to the possibility of educating deaf-mutes. Mainly through his influence the first deaf-and-dumb asylum in the country, that at Hartford, was established in 1820, and Alice became its first pupil. He was also one of the founders of the Connecticut retreat for the insane at Hartford. He was for ten years president of the Connecticut medical society, one of the last survivors of the “old school,” and persisted in wearing knee-breeches and silk stockings, which he held to be the only proper dress for a gentleman. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Coles, Edward, 1786-1868, statesman, abolitionist, Governor of Illinois (elected 1822), member American Colonization Society.  Private secretary to President James Madison, 1809-1815.  Manumitted his slaves in 1819.  Worked with fellow abolitionist James Lemen to keep Illinois a free state.  Opposed pro-slavery group in Illinois state legislature. (Burin, 2005, p. 47; Dumond, 1961, pp. 90, 92, 100-101; Locke, 1901, pp. 24, 25, 33; Ress, 2006; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 37, 233-234; Ress, 2006; Washburne, 1882; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 687; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 2, p. 296; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 5, p. 226; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 143)

COLES, Edward, governor of Illinois, b. in Albemarle county, Va., 15 Dec., 1786; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 7 July, 1868. He was educated at Hampden-Sidney college, and at William and Mary, where he was graduated in 1807. He was private secretary to President Madison from 1810 till 1816, and in 1817 sent on a confidential diplomatic mission to Russia. He returned in 1818, and in 1819 removed to Edwardsville, Ill., and freed all the slaves that had been left him by his father, giving to each head of a family 160 acres of land. He was appointed registrar of the U. S. land-office at Edwardsville, and in 1822 was nominated for governor on account of his well-known anti-slavery sentiments. He served from 1823 till 1826, and during his term of office prevented the pro-slavery party from obtaining control of the state after a bitter and desperate conflict. The history of this remarkable struggle has been written by Elihu B. Washburne (Chicago, 1882). Gov. Coles removed to Philadelphia in 1833, and in 1856 read before the Pennsylvania historical society a “History of the Ordinance of 1787” (Philadelphia, 1856). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 687.

Colgate, William, 1783-1857, New York, merchant, prominent philanthropist.  Officer in the New York auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 688-689; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 2, p. 299; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 40, 84)

COLGATE, William, manufacturer, b. in the county of Kent, England, 25 Jan., 1783; d. in New York city. Constrained by political considerations, his family emigrated to this country in 1798, and settled in Harford county, Md. Young Colgate came to New York in 1804, and became apprentice to a soap-boiler, whose business he subsequently followed with an intelligence and industry that commanded the largest success. In 1808 he united with a Baptist church, and was soon recognized as one of the leading Christian men of New York. In all the missionary and educational enterprises of his denomination he was distinguished for zeal and liberality. He was a member of the board of managers of the American Bible society, but felt constrained by his religious convictions to withdraw from it, and to unite in the formation of the American and foreign Bible society, of which he was made treasurer. In 1850 he joined twelve others, laymen and clergymen, in the organization of the American Bible union, and of this society he remained treasurer until his death. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Colson, Edward, Martinsburg, Virginia.  Nephew of John Marshal, advocate of American Colonization Society and colonization.  Defended the Society against attacks.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 221)

Colwell, Stephen, 1800-1872, Pennsylvania, philanthropist, author.  Director of the American Colonization Society, 1839-1841.  (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 700; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 2, p. 327; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

COLWELL, Stephen, author, b. in Brooke county, Va., 25 March, 1800; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 15 J an., 1872. He was graduated in 1819 at Jefferson college, Pa., studied law, and was admitted to the bar of Virginia in 1821. Removing to Pittsburg, Pa., he practised law for ten years, when he became an iron merchant in Philadelphia. He devoted much of his time to the study of political economy, and soon began to write for the press. He acquired large wealth, which he devoted to charitable purposes, to the endowment of professorships, to the encouragement of scientific investigation, and to the collection of a large and valuable library, including a very complete selection of works on his favorite topics of political and social science. During the civil war Mr. Colwell was among the foremost supporters of the National government in its struggle against secession. He lent his name and his money to the cause, and strengthened the hands of the administration by every means in his power. He was one of the founders of the Union league of Philadelphia, and an associate member of the U. S. sanitary commission. After the war he was appointed a commissioner to examine the whole internal revenue system of the United States, with a view to suggesting such modifications as would distribute and lighten the necessary burdens of taxation—a problem of peculiar importance at that crisis of the nation 's history. To this work he devoted much time and study, and his advice had due weight in determining the financial policy of the government. He bequeathed his library to the University of Pennsylvania with an endowment for a professorship of social science. His first published work, under the signature of “Mr. Penn,” was entitled “Letter to Members of the Legislature of Pennsylvania on the Removal of Deposits from the Bank of the United States by Order of the President” (1834). Still concealing his identity under the name of “Jonathan B. Wise,” he published “The Relative Position in our Industry of Foreign Commerce, Domestic Production, and Internal Trade” (Philadelphia, 1850). He was the author of “New Themes for the Protestant Clergy” (1851); “Polities for American Christians” (1852); “Hints to Laymen,” and “Charity and the Clergy” (1853); “Position of Christianity in the United States, in its Relation with our Political System and Religious Instruction in the Public Schools” (1855); “The South; a Letter from a Friend in the North with Reference to the Effects of Disunion upon Slavery” (1856). The same year he edited, with notes, “List's Treatise on National Economy.” His last and most important work is “The Ways and Means of Commercial Payment” (1858). Besides these publications in book-form, he was the author of a noteworthy article in the “Merchant's Magazine,” entitled “Money of Account” (1852), and another essay on the same subject in the “Banker’s Magazine” (1855). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 700.

Coppinger, William, d. 1892, lifelong employee of the American Colonization Society, starting in 1838.  Later served as its Secretary.  (Burin, 2005, p. 97; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 249)

Corning, Jasper, Charleston, South Carolina.  Supported the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 128)

Corwin, Thomas, 1794-1865, Lebanon, Ohio, attorney, statesman, diplomat, opposed slavery, U.S. Congressman, Governor of Ohio, U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Treasury.  Director of the American Colonization Society, 1833-1834.  (Mitchell, 2007, p. 33, 35, 160, 172, 173, 266n; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 403; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 751; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 2, p. 457; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 5, p. 549; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 138, 207)

CORWIN, Thomas, statesman, b. in Bourbon county, Ky., 29 July, 1794; d. in Washington, D. C., 18 Dec., 1865. In 1798 his father, Matthias, removed to what is now Lebanon, Ohio, and for many years represented his district in the legislature. The son worked on the home farm till he was about twenty years old, and enjoyed very slender educational advantages, but began the study of law in 1815, and was admitted to the bar in May, 1818. His ability and eloquence as an advocate soon gained him an extensive practice. He was first chosen to the legislature of Ohio in 1822, serving seven years, and was chosen to congress in 1830, from the Miami district as a whig, of which party he was an enthusiastic member. His wit and eloquence made him a prominent member of the house of representatives, to which he was re-elected by the strong whig constituency that he represented for each successive term till 1840, when he resigned to become the whig candidate for governor of Ohio, and canvassed the state with Gen. Harrison, addressing large gatherings in most of the counties. He was unsurpassed as an orator on the political platform or before a jury. At the election he was chosen by 16,000 majority, Gen. Harrison receiving over 23,000 in the presidential election that soon followed. Two years later, Gov. Corwin was defeated for governor by Wilson Shannon, whom he had so heavily beaten in 1840. In 1844 the Whigs again carried the state, giving its electoral vote to Mr. Clay, and sending Mr. Corwin to the U. S. senate, where he made in 1847 a notable speech against the war in Mexico. He served in the senate until Mr. Fillmore's accession to the presidency in July, 1850, when he was called to the head of the treasury. After the expiration of Mr. Fillmore's term he returned to private life and the practice of law at Lebanon, Ohio. In 1858 he was returned once more a representative in congress by an overwhelming majority, and was re-elected with but slight opposition in 1860. On Mr. Lincoln's accession to the presidency he was appointed minister to Mexico, where he remained until the arrival of Maximilian, when he came home on leave of absence, and did not return, remaining in Washington and practising law, but taking a warm interest in public affairs, and earnestly co-operating in every effort to restore peace. His style of oratory was captivating, and his genial and kindly nature made him a universal favorite. His intemperate speech against the Mexican war hindered his further political advancement. He was a faithful public servant, led a busy life, lived frugally, and, although he had been secretary of the U. S. treasury, failed to secure a competency for his family. See the “Life and Speeches” of Thomas Corwin, edited by Isaac Strohn (Dayton. 1859).—His brother, Moses B., b. in Bourbon county, Ky., 5 Jan., 1790; d. in Urbana, Ohio, 7 April, 1872, received a common-school education, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1812, and practised at Urbana. He was a member of the legislature in 1838-'9, and was elected as a whig to congress in 1848, against his son, John A., who was nominated as a Democrat. He was again elected in 1854.  Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 751

Coxe, Richard S., Washington, DC, Manager, American Colonization Society, 1833-34, Executive Committee, 1840-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Cranch, William, Judge, 1769-1855, jurist.  Manager of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 767-768; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 2, p. 501; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 208)

CRANCH, William, jurist, b. in Weymouth, Mass., 17 July, 1769; d. in Washington, 1 Sept., 1855. His father, Richard, a native of England, was for many years a member of the Massachusetts legislature, was a judge of the court of common pleas, and the author of “Views of the Prophecies concerning Anti-Christ.” William was graduated at Harvard in 1829, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in July, 1790. After practising for three years in the courts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, in October, 1794, he removed to Washington. In 1801 President Adams appointed him junior assistant judge of the circuit court of the District of Columbia. In 1805 President Jefferson made him chief justice of the same court, an office that he held till 1855. During that period but two of his decisions were overruled by the U. S. supreme court. Among the last services imposed upon him by congress was the final hearing of patent causes after an appeal from the commissioner of patents. He published nine volumes of reports of the U. S. supreme court, and six volumes of reports of the circuit court of the District of Columbia (1801 to 1841). He also prepared a code of laws for the district, published a memoir of John Adams (1827), and in 1831 an address on temperance. He was a member of the academy of arts and    Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Crane, William, 1790-1866, Richmond, Virginia, merchant, philanthropist.  Active supporter of the American Colonization Society in the Richmond auxiliary.  Created the Richmond African Baptist Ministry Society as a part of the Richmond Baptist Foreign Ministry Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 1; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 109, 128)

CRANE, William, merchant, b. in Newark, N. J., 6 May, 1790; d. in Baltimore, Md., 28 Sept., 1866. In Richmond, Va., where he resided from 1811 till 1834, he was distinguished for his zeal in promoting the religious welfare of the colored people. He was the founder of the Richmond African Baptist missionary society which sent out Lott Cary to Liberia, and he taught the first school for blacks in Richmond, and was one of the originators of Richmond college, giving to it $1,000. His benefactions to other religious objects were large. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Crawford, William Harris, 1772-1834, Georgia, statesman, U.S. Congressman from Georgia.  Vice-President, 1833-35, of the American Colonization Society.  Member, Milledgeville auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Burin, 2005, p. 14; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 6; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 2, p. 527; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

CRAWFORD, William Harris, statesman, b. in Amherst county, Va., 24 Feb., 1772; d. in Elbert county, Ga., 15 Sept., 1834. His father, who was in reduced circumstances, removed first to South Carolina and then to Columbia county, Ga. After teaching school at Augusta the boy studied law, began practice at Lexington in 1799, and was one of the compilers of the first digest of the laws of Georgia. He became a member of the state senate in 1802, and in 1807 was chosen U. S. senator to fill a vacancy. The political excitement of the period led him to engage in two duels, in one of which his opponent fell, and in the second of which he was himself wounded. He was re-elected in 1811, acquiesced in the policy of a U. S. bank, and in 1812 was chosen president pro tem. of the senate. He was at first opposed to the war with Great Britain, but eventually gave it his support; and in 1813, having declined the place of secretary of war, accepted that of minister to France, where he formed a personal intimacy with Lafayette. In 1816, on the retirement of Mr. Dallas, he was appointed secretary of the treasury. He was prominently urged as a candidate for the presidency, but remained at the head of the treasury department, where he adhered to the views of Mr. Jefferson, and opposed the federal policy in regard to internal improvements, then supported by a considerable section of his own party. This position on the great question of the time subjected him to virulent hostility from opponents of his own party; and Mr. Calhoun, who was one of these opponents, became a dangerous rival for the democratic nomination for the presidency, to succeed Monroe. Crawford, however, as the choice of the Virginia party, and the representative of the views of Jefferson, secured the nomination of a congressional caucus in February, 1824; and in the election that followed he received the electoral votes of Virginia and Georgia, with scattering votes from New York, Maryland, and Delaware—in all, 41. No choice having been made by the electoral college, the election reverted to the house of representatives, where John Quincy Adams was elected over Jackson and Crawford, through the influence of Henry Clay, the fourth candidate before the people, who brought his friends to the support of Adams. The result was also due, in a measure, to the confirmed ill health of Mr. Crawford, and perhaps to imputations brought against his conduct of the treasury department. These charges he promptly refuted, and a committee that included Daniel Webster and John Randolph unanimously declared them to be unfounded. But his health rendered it impossible for him to continue in public life; and, although he recovered his strength partially, he took no part after this date in politics. Returning to Georgia, he became circuit judge, which office he continued  Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Cresson, Elliot, 1796-1854, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Society of Friends, Quaker, philanthropist, supported American Colonization Society. (Burin, 2005, pp. 82, 85; Campbell, 1971,p. 97; Staudenraus, 1961, pp. 125, 128, 193, 240, 189-190, 216-218, 224, 234, 238-239; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, pp. 7-8; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 2, p. 540)

CRESSON, Elliott, philanthropist, b. in Philadelphia, 2 March, 1796; d. there, 20 Feb., 1854. He was a member of the Society of Friends, became a successful merchant in Philadelphia, and devoted his attention to benevolent objects, especially the promotion of the welfare of the Indians and negroes in the United States. He conceived the intention of becoming a missionary among the Seminoles of Florida, but afterward gave his mind to the scheme of colonizing American negroes in Africa, engaged in establishing the first colony of liberated slaves at Bassa Cove, on the Grain coast, became president of the Colonization society, and labored as its agent in New England in the winter of 1838-'9, in the southern states in 1839-'40, and in Great Britain in 1840-'2 and 1850-'3. He left in his will $122,000 to various benevolent institutions, and a lot, valued at $30,000, for a home for superannuated merchants and gentlemen. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, pp. 7-8.

Crittenden, John J., Frankfort, Kentucky, Director, American Colonization Society, 1837-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Crosby, John, Savannah, Georgia, agent for the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 121)

Crosby, William Bedlow, 1786-1865, New York, philanthropist.  Officer in the New York auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 17; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 40)

CROSBY, William Bedlow, philanthropist, b. in New York city, 7 Feb., 1786 ; d. there, 18 March, 1865. His parents died when he was two years old, and he was adopted by Col. Henry Rutgers, his mother's uncle, from whom he received a large part of the old Rutgers estate, comprising most of the present seventh ward of New York city. He never engaged in business, but gave his time and attention to the care of his property and to works of benevolence. He was connected with many societies, and spent a large part of his income in private charities. By virtue of his father's service in the war of the Revolution, he was made a member of the Society of the Cincinnati. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Croswell, Harry, Reverend, 1778-1858, New Haven, Connecticut, clergyman.  Member, New Haven Committee of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 21; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 2, p. 571; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 86)

CROSWELL, Harry, clergyman, b. in West Hartford, Conn., 16 June, 1778; d. in New Haven, Conn., 13 March, 1858. He was educated under the care of Rev. Dr. Perkins and Dr. Noah Webster. When quite young, he entered his brother's printing-office in Catskill, N. Y., and soon became editor of a paper issued there. He founded a Federalist newspaper called the “Balance” in Hudson, N. Y., in 1802, which became noted for the bitterness and scathing sarcasm of its editorials; and M r. Croswell became involved in many libel suits. The most celebrated of these was caused by an article on Jefferson, published in the “Wasp,” a paper controlled by Mr. Croswell, and Alexander Hamilton's last and one of his finest speeches was made in Croswell's defence at the trial. Croswell afterward edited a political newspaper in Albany, whither he removed in 1809, and was again prosecuted for libel by a Mr. Southwick, who recovered damages. Croswell called on his friends for money to make good this amount, and on their refusal determined to enter the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal church, though he had been brought up a Congregationalist. He was ordained deacon, 8 May, 1814, and had charge of Christ church, Hudson, till 1 Jan., 1815, when he became rector of Trinity church, New Haven, Conn., then the only Episcopal church in the city, holding services in an old wooden building on Church street till the opening of the new church edifice, on 22 Feb., 1816. He remained in New Haven till his death. One who knew him writes: “His tall figure and manly form, clerical garb, and high-topped boots with knee-buckles, impressed every beholder as they saw him walk the streets of New Haven. He was not a great preacher, but he had an extraordinary knowledge of human nature, and could ingratiate himself into every man's heart.” Trinity college gave him the degree of D. D. in 1831. He published “Young Churchman's Guide” (4 vols.); “Manual of Family Prayers” (New Haven); “Guide to the Holy Sacrament”; and a “Memoir” of his son, Rev. William Croswell, D. D. (New York, 1854). He left in manuscript “Annals of Trinity Church” and a voluminous diary. See “Letters of Waldegrave,” by Rev. G. W. Nichols (New York, 1886).  Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Crozer, Samuel, agent of the American Colonization Society.  Went to Africa with Samuel Bacon and John Banson to supervise the society’s first expedition to send freemen to Africa under the Slave Act of 1819.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 57-61)

Cullum, Jeremiah H., Reverend, Baltimore, Maryland, clergyman.  Agent for the Maryland State Colonization Society.  (Campbell, 1971, p. 202)

Cushing, Caleb, 1800-1879, Boston, Massachusetts, statesman, soldier, lawyer, politician, U.S. Attorney General.  Argued against slavery and defended the principles of the American Colonization Society and colonization.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, pp. 38-39; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 2, Pt. 2, p. 623; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 210)

CUSHING, Caleb, statesman, b. in Salisbury, Mass., 17 Jan., 1800; d. in Newburyport, Mass., 2 Jan., 1879. He was graduated at Harvard in 1817, and for two years was a tutor in mathematics and natural philosophy. He then studied law, was admitted to the bar, and settled in Newburyport. He rose rapidly in his profession, and, although busily engaged with his practice, found time to devote to literature and politics, and was a frequent contributor to periodicals. In 1825 he was elected a representative to the lower house of the Massachusetts legislature, and in 1826 a member of the state senate. At this time he belonged to the then republican party. In 1829 Mr. Cushing visited Europe, and remained abroad two years. In 1833 he was again elected a representative from Newburyport to the Massachusetts legislature for two years, but in 1834 was elected from the Essex north district of Massachusetts a representative to congress, and served for four consecutive terms, until 1843. He supported the nomination of John Quincy Adams for the presidency, and was a whig until the accession of John Tyler. When the break in the whig party occurred, during the administration of President Tyler, Mr. Cushing was one of the few northern whigs that continued to support the president, and became classed as a democrat. Soon afterward he was nominated for secretary of the treasury, but the senate refused to confirm him. He was subsequently confirmed as commissioner to China, and made the first treaty between that country and the United States. On his return he was again elected a representative in the Massachusetts legislature. In 1847 he raised a regiment for the Mexican war at his own expense, became its colonel, and was subsequently made brigadier-general. While still in Mexico he was nominated by the democratic party of his state for governor, but failed in the election. From 1850 till 1852 he was again a member of the legislature of his native state, and, at the expiration of his term, was appointed associate justice of the state supreme court. In 1853 President Pierce appointed him U. S. attorney-general, from which office he retired in 1857. In 1857, 1858, and 1859 he again served in the legislature of Massachusetts. In April, 1860, he was president of the Democratic national convention in Charleston, S. C., and was among the seceders from that body who met in Baltimore. At the close of 1860 he was sent to Charleston by President Buchanan, as a confidential commissioner to the secessionists of South Carolina; but his mission effected nothing. Mr. Cushing was frequently employed during the civil war in the departments at Washington, and in 1866 was appointed one of the three commissioners to revise and codify the laws of congress. In 1868 he was sent to Bogotá to arrange a diplomatic difficulty. In 1872 he was one of the counsel for the United States at the Geneva conference for the settlement of the Alabama claims, and in 1873 was nominated for the office of chief justice of the United States; but the nomination was subsequently withdrawn. A year later he was nominated and confirmed as minister to Spain, whence he returned home in 1877. His publications include a “History of the Town of Newburyport’ (1826); “The Practical Principles of Political Economy” (1826); “Historical and Political Review of the Late Revolution in France” (2 vols., Boston, 1833); “Reminiscences of Spain” (2 vols., Boston, 1833); “Growth and Territorial Progress of the United States” (1839); “Life of William H. Harrison” (Boston, 1840); and “The Treaty of Washington” (New York, 1873). Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Custis, George Washington Parke, 1781-1857, author, member of the American Colonization Society.  Stepson of George Washington.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 45; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 3, Pt. 1, p. 9; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 119)

CUSTIS, George Washington Parke, author, b. at Mount Airy, Md., 30 April, 1781; d. at Arlington House, Fairfax co., Va., 10 Oct., 1857. His father, Col. John Parke Custis, the son of Mrs. Washington by her first husband, was aide-de-camp to Washington at the siege of Yorktown, and d. 5 Nov., 1781, aged twenty-eight. The son had his early home at Mount Vernon, pursued his classical studies at St. John's college and at Princeton, and remained a member of Washington's family until the death of Mrs. Washington in 1802, when he built Arlington House on an estate of 1,000 acres near Washington, which he had inherited from his father. After the death in 1852 of his sister, Eleanor Parke Custis, wife of Maj. Lawrence Lewis, he was the sole surviving member of Washington’s family, and his residence was for many years a favorite resort, owing to the interesting relics of that family which it contained. Mr. Custis married in early life Mary Lee Fitzhugh, of Virginia, and left a daughter, who married Robert E. Lee. The Arlington estate was confiscated during the civil war, and is now held as national property, and is the site of a national soldiers’ cemetery. The house is represented in the accompanying illustration. Mr. Custis was in his early days an eloquent and effective speaker. He wrote orations and plays, and during his latter years executed a number of large paintings of Revolutionary battles. His “Recollections of Washington,” originally contributed to the “National Intelligencer,” was published in book-form, with a memoir by his daughter and notes by Benson J. Lossing (New York, 1860). Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Cuthbert, John A., 1788-1881, U.S. Congressman, Georgia, member of the Putnam County, Georgia, auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, pp. 45-46; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

CUTHBERT, John A., jurist, b. in Savannah, Ga., 3 June, 1788; d. near Mobile, Ala., 22 Sept., 1881. His father was a colonel in the Revolutionary army. He was graduated at Princeton in 1805, and in 1809 became a law student in New York. In 1810 he was elected to the legislature of Georgia, from Liberty county, which he continued to represent for years. During the war of 1812 he commanded a volunteer company to protect the coast. In 1818 Georgia elected her representatives in congress on one general ticket, and Cuthbert was thus chosen. At that time the Missouri question occupied the attention of congress, and Judge Cuthbert took an active and zealous part in maintaining the southern side of it. In 1831 he became editor, and subsequently proprietor, of “The Federal Union,” a paper published at Milledgeville, Ga., and in 1837 removed to Mobile to practise his profession. In 1840 he was elected judge of the county court of Mobile, and in 1852 appointed judge of the circuit court. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

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Daggett, David, 1764-1851, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. Senator, jurist, Mayor of New Haven.  Supporter of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 53; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 3, Pt. 1, p. 26; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 72)

DAGGETT, David, jurist, b. in Attleborough, Mass., 31 Dec., 1764; d. in New Haven, Conn., 12 April, 1851. He was graduated at Yale in 1783, studied and practised law in New Haven, became state's attorney in 1811, mayor of the city in 1828, and held other local offices. From 1791 till 1813 he was a member of the Connecticut legislature, serving in 1794 as speaker, and from 1797 till 1804 and 1809 till 1813 as a member of the council or upper house. He voted as a presidential elector for Charles C. Pinckney in 1804 and 1808, and for De Witt Clinton in 1812. He was elected a U. S. senator in the place of Chauncey Goodrich, who resigned, and served from 24 May, 1813, till 3 March, 1819, when he returned to his extensive practice at the bar in Connecticut. From 1826 till 1832 he was a judge of the Connecticut supreme court, and then chief judge till 1834, when he reached the age of seventy years, and was retired under the statute. He became an instructor in the New Haven law-school in 1824, and was professor of jurisprudence from 1826 until he was compelled by the infirmities of age to resign the chair. A sketch of his life by the Rev. Samuel W. S. Dutton, D. D., appeared in 1851. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Dale, Richard, 1756-1826, retired naval officer, merchant, importer.  Member of the Philadelphia auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 56; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 3, Pt. 1, p. 32; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 39, 72)

DALE, Richard, naval officer, b. near Norfolk, Va., 6 Nov., 1756; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 26 Feb., 1826. He entered the merchant service at the age of twelve, and at nineteen commanded a ship. In 1776 he became a lieutenant in the Virginia navy, and was soon afterward captured and confined in a prison-ship at Norfolk, where some royalist school-mates persuaded him to embark on an English cruiser against the vessels of his state. He was wounded in an engagement with an American flotilla, and, while confined to his bed in Norfolk, resolved “never again to put himself in the way of the bullets of his own countrymen.” After the Declaration of Independence he became a midshipman on the American brig “Lexington,” which was captured on the coast of France by the English cutter “Alert” in 1777. Dale was thrown into Mill prison, at Plymouth, with the rest of the officers and crew of the “Lexington,” on a charge of high treason, but escaped, with many of his fellow prisoners, in February, 1778, was recaptured, escaped again, disguised as a British naval officer, and reached France, where he joined John Paul Jones's squadron as master's mate. Jones soon made him first lieutenant of the “Bon Homme Richard,” and in that capacity he fought with distinction in the famous battle with the “Serapis,” on 23 Sept., 1779, and received a severe splinter wound. After the sinking of the “Bon Homme Richard” in that engagement, Dale served with Jones in the “Alliance,” and afterward in the “Ariel.” He returned to Philadelphia on 28 Feb., 1781, was placed on the list of lieutenants in the navy, and joined the “Trumbull,” which was captured in August of that year by the “Iris” and the “Monk.” Dale received his third wound in the engagement. He was exchanged in November, obtained leave of absence, and served on letters of marque and in the merchant service till the close of the war. He was appointed captain in 1794, but, with the exception of a short cruise in the “Ganges,” during the troubles with France, was not in active service till 1801, when he was given command of a squadron and ordered to the Mediterranean during the hostilities with Tripoli. Although he was greatly hampered by his instructions, so that no serious enterprise could be attempted, he prevented the Tripolitans from making any captures during his command. He returned to the United States in April, 1802, and was again ordered to the Mediterranean, but, becoming dissatisfied, he resigned his commission on 17 Dec., and, having gained a competency, spent the rest of his life in retirement. Dale enjoyed the distinction of having been praised by Lord Nelson, who, after critically watching the seamanship of the commodore's squadron, said that there was in the handling of those trans-Atlantic ships a nucleus of trouble for the navy of Great Britain. The prediction was soon verified. Two of Com. Dale's sons held commissions in the navy.  Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Danforth, Joshua Nobel, Reverend, 1798-1861, clergyman.  Agent for the American Colonization Society in New York and New England, 1834-1838.  He established a headquarters office in Boston.  He organized numerous auxiliaries and recruited notable members, such as Herman Humphrey, President of Amherst College, and noted historian, George Bancroft.  His assistants were Reverend Charles Walker and Reverend Cyril Pearl.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 73; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 196-197, 201-202, 204, 209-210, 227)

DANFORTH, Joshua Noble, clergyman, b. in Pittsfield, Mass., 1 April, 1798; d. in New Castle, Del, 14 Nov., 1861. He was graduated at Williams in 1818, and spent two years at the Princeton theological seminary. After being ordained by the New Brunswick presbytery, on 30 Nov., 1825, he was installed pastor of the church in New Castle, Del., where he remained until 1828, when he accepted a call to Washington. In 1832-'4 he was agent of the American colonization society, from 1834 till 1838 pastor of the Congregational church in Lee, Mass., and then for fifteen years in charge of the 2d Presbyterian church in Alexandria, Va. In 1860 he again accepted an agency for the American colonization society. Dr. Danforth received in 1855 the degree of D. D. from Delaware college. He contributed largely to the religious and secular press, and wrote “Gleanings and Groupings from a Pastor's Portfolio” (New York, 1852).  Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Daniel, Peter Vivian, 1784-1860, Virginia, lawyer, jurist, political leader.  Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.  Supported colonization and the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 75; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 3, Pt. 1, p. 69; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 179)

DANIEL, Peter Vivian, jurist, b. in Stafford county, Va., 24 April, 1784; d. in Richmond, Va., 30 June, 1860. His father, Travers Daniel, was a son of Peter Daniel, who married a daughter of Raleigh Travers, of the Virginia house of burgesses. The residence of Travers Daniel, Crow’s Nest, near the mouth of Potomac creek, was celebrated for its hospitalities, and the family bore an important part in public affairs. Peter Vivian was graduated at Princeton in 1805, and studied law in the office of Edmund Randolph (of Washington’s cabinet), whose daughter, Lucy Nelson Randolph, he married in 1811. He was chosen a member of the privy council of Virginia in 1812, and served part of the time as lieutenant-governor of the state until 1835. In 1836 he was appointed by President Van Buren to be judge of the district circuit court of Virginia, and was raised to the supreme court, 3 March, 1841, to succeed Mr. Justice Barbour. Judge Daniel was a democrat, and a personal as well as political friend of President Jackson. He was a gentleman of fine taste in literature, possessed musical accomplishments, and his judicial opinions are marked by care and clearness. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Darling, Joshua, New Hampshire, Vice-President, American Colonization Society, 1837-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Davidson, William B., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Co-founder and officer of the Philadelphia Society of the American Colonization Society in October 1826.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 125)

Day, Jeremiah, 1773-1867, New Haven, Connecticut, American Colonization Society, Vice-President, 1833-1841.  President of Yale College.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, pp. 111-112; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 3, Pt. 1, p. 161; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 72)

DAY, Jeremiah, educator, b. in New Preston, Conn., 3 Aug., 1773; d. in New Haven, Conn., 22 Aug., 1867. He was graduated at Yale with high honor in 1795. When Dr. Dwight was appointed president of that college, Mr. Day was invited to be his successor as head-master in Greenfield school, where he remained one year. The following year he became a tutor at Williams, where he remained until 1798, when he was offered a similar place at Yale. He began to preach as a candidate for the ministry, but before taking charge of any parish was elected to the professorship of mathematics and natural philosophy at Yale, in 1801, but was not able to enter upon these new duties until 1803. He was made president of Yale in 1817, which office he held until his resignation in 1846. Having previously studied theology, Dr. Day was ordained the same day that he was inaugurated president. In 1817 he received the degree of LL. D. from Middlebury, in 1818 the degree of D. D. from Union, and the latter also from Harvard in 1831. His learning and talents, united with kindness of heart and soundness of judgment, secured the respect of his pupils as well as their affection. He published an “Algebra” in 1814, which passed through numerous editions, the latest of which was issued in 1852, by the joint labors of himself and Prof. Stanley. He wrote also “Mensuration of Superficies and Solids” (1814); “An Examination of President Edwards's Inquiry as to the Freedom of the Will” (1814); “Plane Trigonometry” (1815); “Navigation and Surveying” (1817); “An Inquiry on the Self-determining Power of the Will, or Contingent Volition” (1838; 2d ed., 1849); and occasional sermons. He contributed papers to the “American Journal of Science and Arts,” the “New Englander,” and other periodicals. An address commemorative of his life and services was delivered by President Woolsey (1867). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Delavan, Edward Cornelius, 1793-1871, Ballston Center, New York, reformer, temperance activist, abolitionist.  Life member of the American Colonization Society (ACS).  Sought to defend the ACS against attacks by William Lloyd Garrison.  American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1837-39. (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 134; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 201)

DELAVAN, Edward Cornelius, reformer, b. in Schenectady county, N. Y., in 1793; d. in Schenectady, 15 Jan., 1871. He was a wine-merchant, and acquired a fortune. At one time he owned much real estate in Albany, including the Delavan house, which he erected. In 1828, in company with Dr. Eliphalet Nott, he formed the State temperance society in Schenectady, and entered with zeal into the cause of temperance reform, devoting .his ample means to its promotion, speaking, lecturing, and writing on the subject, and employing others in all these ways to further the cause. He met with great opposition in this work. In 1835 he wrote to the Albany “Evening Journal,” charging an Albany brewer with using filthy and stagnant water for malting. The brewer prosecuted him for libel, and the trial, which took place in 1840 and attracted wide attention, occupied six days, and resulted in a verdict for Delavan. After this, several similar suits that had been begun against him for damages aggregating $300,000, were abandoned. Mr. Delavan had the proceedings of this trial printed in pamphlet-form for distribution as a tract. He procured, about 1840, several drawings of the human stomach when diseased by the use of alcoholic drinks, from postmortem examinations made by Prof. Sewall, of Washington, D. C. These he bad engraved and printed in colors, and made very effective use of them. He also published for years, at his own expense, a periodical advocating, often with illustrations, the temperance cause; this was subsequently merged in the “Journal of the American Temperance Union,” to whose funds he was a most liberal contributor. He had trained himself to public speaking, and became an efficient advocate of the cause he had so much at heart. Mr. Delavan presented to Union college a collection of shells and minerals valued at $30,000. He lost a large portion of his property a few years before his death. He published numerous articles and tracts, and “Temperance in Wine Countries” (1860). Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Dewey, Loring Daniel, 1791-1867, New York, clergyman, reformer, abolitionist, Agent of the American Colonization Society.  Toured New England and New York, raised funds and founded auxiliaries.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 79-87 passim)

Digges, William Dudley, charter member of the American Colonization Society, Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Disosway, Gabriel Poillon, 1799-1868, New York, merchant, philanthropist.  Member and supporter of the American Colonization Society.  Co-founder of Randolph Macon College at Ashland, Virginia.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 182; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 58, 196)

DISOSWAY, Gabriel Poillon, antiquary, b. in New York city, 6 Dec., 1799; d. on Staten Island, 9 July, 1868. He was graduated at Columbia in 1819, went to Petersburg, Va., where he resided for several years, returned to New York, and became a merchant. He was one of the founders of Randolph-Macon college, established at Ashland, Va., in 1832. He contributed frequently to the newspaper and periodical press, and published “The Earliest Churches of New York and its Vicinity” (New York, 1865). Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Dobbins, George W., Maryland.  Manager, Maryland State Colonization Society.  (Campbell, 1971, p. 154)

Dougherty, Thomas (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Douglas, Richard H., Maryland, ship owner.  Manager, Maryland Society of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 111)

Duer, William Alexander, 1780-1858, New York City, New York, jurist, educator.  President of Columbia College.  Officer of the New York City auxiliary of the American colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, pp. 245-246; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 3, Pt. 1, p. 488; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 135)

DUER, William Alexander, jurist, b. in Rhinebeck, N. Y., 8 Sept., 1780; d. in New York, 30 May, 1858, studied law in Philadelphia, and with Nathaniel Pendleton in New York. During the quasi war with France in 1798 he obtained the appointment of midshipman in the navy, and served under Decatur. On the adjustment of the French question, he resumed his studies with Pendleton, and was admitted to the bar in 1802. He engaged in business with Edward Livingston, who was then district attorney and mayor of New York, and, after his removal to New Orleans, formed a professional partnership with his brother-in-law, Beverley Robinson. About this time ho contributed to a partisan weekly paper called the “Corrector,” conducted by Dr. Peter Irving in support of Aaron Burr. Mr. Duer shortly afterward joined Livingston at New Orleans, and studied Spanish civil law. He was successful, but, owing to the climate and to his marriage with the daughter of William Denning, a prominent whig of New York, he was induced to resume practice in the latter city. Here he contributed literary articles to the “Morning Chronicle,” the newspaper of his friend Peter Irving. He next opened an office in Rhinebeck, and in 1814 was elected to the state assembly, where he was appointed chairman of a committee on colleges and academies, and succeeded in passing a bill, which is the original of the existing law on the subject of the common-school income. He was also chairman of the committee that arranged the constitutionality of the state law vesting the right of navigation in Livingston and Fulton, and throughout his service bore a prominent pad in promoting canal legislation. He was judge of the supreme court from 1822 till 1829, when he was elected president of Columbia college, where he remained until failing health compelled him to resign in 1842. During his administration he delivered to the senior class a course of lectures on the constitutional jurisprudence of the United States (published in 1833; revised ed., 1856). He delivered a eulogy on President Monroe from the portico of the city hall. After his retirement he resided in Morristown, N. J., where he wrote the life of his grandfather, Lord Stirling (published by the Historical society of New Jersey). In 1847 he delivered an address in the college chapel before the literary societies of Columbia, and in 1848 an historical address before the St. Nicholas society, which gives early reminiscences of New York, and describes the scenes connected with the inauguration of President Washington, both of which were published. He was the author of two pamphlets addressed to Cadwallader D. Colden on the “Steam boat Controversy,” and the “Life of William Alexander, Earl of Stirling” (New York, 1847). Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Duncan, Stephan, Natchez, Mississippi, Vice-President, American Colonization Society, 1836-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Dwight, Timothy, New Haven, Connecticut.  Member of the American Colonization Society Committee in New Haven.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 86)

DWIGHT, Timothy, educator, b. in Northampton, Mass., 14 May, 1752; d. in New Haven, Conn., 11 Jan., 1817. He was the great-grandson of Nathaniel, who was brother to Capt. Henry Dwight, of Hatfield (see DWIGHT, JOSEPH). His father, Maj. Timothy Dwight (Yale, 1744), was a lawyer by education, and became a prosperous merchant of Northampton; his mother was Mary, third daughter of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, a lady of great mental ability and force of character. During the boy's earlier years she devoted herself to his education. At twelve he was sent to the Rev. Enoch Huntingdon's school in Middletown, where he was fitted for college, matriculating at Yale in 1765. He was graduated in 1769, having but one rival in scholarship, Nathan Strong. After leaving college he was principal of the Hopkins grammar-school in New Haven for two years. In the autumn of 1771 he was given the post of tutor in his alma mater, and in the same year began his ambitious epic, “The Conquest of Canaan.” He was made M. A. in 1772, and on taking his degree delivered a dissertation on the “History, Eloquence, and Poetry of the Bible,” which attracted much attention. While a tutor, he studied law, with the intention of adopting it as a profession; but in 1777, there being a great dearth of chaplains in the Continental army, he was licensed to preach, and soon afterward became chaplain in Parsons's brigade, of the Connecticut line. While holding this office he wrote several stirring patriotic songs, one of which, “Columbia,” became a general favorite. His father's sudden death in 1778 recalled him to the care of his widowed mother and her family, with whom he remained at Northampton, Mass., five years, tilling the farm and preaching occasionally in the neighboring churches. He also kept a day-school for both sexes, in which Joel Barlow, the poet, was a teacher; and after the capture of New Haven by the British he had under his care several of the students of Yale. In 1782 he was a member of the Massachusetts legislature, but refused a nomination to congress. Receiving a call from the church at Greenfield Hill, a beautiful rural parish in Fairfield, Conn., he removed thither in 1783; and shortly afterward he established an academy, which soon acquired a national reputation, students being attracted from all parts of the country and from the West Indies. In this school Dr. Dwight became the pioneer of higher education for women, assigning his female students the same advanced studies as those pursued by the boys, and earnestly advocating the practice. The College of New Jersey gave him the degree of S. T. D. in 1787, and Harvard that of LL. D. in 1810. In 1799 he declined a call from the Dutch Reformed church at Albany. During this period he proposed and agitated, until he secured, the union of the Congregational and Presbyterian churches of New England. In 1795, on the death of Dr. Stiles, he was called to the presidency of Yale college, an office which he held until his death in 1817. On this long and successful administration of the affairs of Yale college Dr. Dwight's claims to distinction largely rest. When he assumed control there were but 110 students; the curriculum was still narrow and pedantic; the freshmen were in bondage to the upper-class men, and they in turn to the faculty. President Dwight abolished the primary-school system, and established among the class-men, and between them and the faculty, such rules as are usually observed by gentlemen in social intercourse. He introduced the study of oratory into the curriculum, and himself gave lectures on style and composition. He also abolished the system of fines for petty offences. At his death the number of students had increased to 313. In politics he was a federalist of the Hamilton school, and he earnestly deprecated the introduction of French ideas of education. His published works fill thirteen large octavo volumes, and his unpublished manuscripts would fill almost as many more. While he was a tutor in college, imprudence in the use of his eyes had so weakened them that he could use them neither for study nor writing, and he was afterward obliged to employ an amanuensis very frequently. His most ambitious work was his epic, The Conquest of Canaan.” A critic, writing in the “North American Review” (vii., 347), said its author had invented a medium between absolute barbarism and modern refinement. “There is little that is really distinctive, little that is truly oriental, about any of his persons or scenes…. It is occasionally animated, and in description sometimes picturesque and poetical.” His pastoral poem, “Greenfield Hill” (1794), in which was introduced a vivid description of the burning of Fairfield by the British in 1779, was much more popular. In 1800 he revised Watts's Psalms, adding translations of his own, and a selection of hymns, both of which were adopted by the general assembly of the Presbyterian church. The best known of these is the version of the 137th Psalm, beginning, “I love thy kingdom, Lord, the house of thine abode.” His “Travels in New England and New York” (4 vols., New Haven, 1821; London, 1823) was pronounced by Robert Southey the most important of his works. His “Theology Explained and Defended in a Course of 173 Sermons” (5 vols., Middletown, Conn., 1818; London, 1819; new ed., with memoir by his son, Rev. Sereno E. Dwight, New York, 1846) has gone through a score of editions in this country and at least one hundred abroad, and on it rests his reputation as a theologian. Besides these works and numerous discourses he published “America, a Poem” (1772; “The Genuineness and Authenticity of the New Testament” (1793); “Triumph of Infidelity, a Satire” (1797); “Discourse on the Character of Washington” (1800); “Observations on Language” (1816); and “Essay on Light” (1816). See, besides, the memoir by his son, and the life in vol. xiv. of Sparks's “American Biography,” by Rev. William B. Sprague. Dr. Dwight married, in March, 1777, Mary, daughter of Benjamin Woolsey, of Long Island, who bore him eight sons. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, pp. 281-282.

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Easter, Ira A., Maryland, Methodist minister.  Agent for the Maryland State Colonization Society.  Hired in October 1835.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 101-102, 104, 106-107, 113, 122)

Edwards, Bela Bates, 1802-1852, Boston, Massachusetts, clergyman, editor.  Member of the Young Men’s Colonization Society in Boston.  Defended the American Colonization Society and colonization as a means to end slavery.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 307; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 3, Pt. 2, p. 27; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 133, 210)

EDWARDS, Bela Bates, clergyman, another great-grandson of Samuel, mentioned in the preceding sketch, b. in Southampton, Mass., 4 July, 1802; d. in Athens, Ga., 20 April, 1852. He was graduated at Amherst in 1824, and at Andover in 1830. He was licensed to preach in the latter year, but was never ordained. After serving as tutor at Amherst, he acted as assistant secretary of the American education society in 1828-'33. He edited the “American Quarterly Register” in 1828-'42; the “American Quarterly Observer,” which he founded, in 1833-'5 ; the “American Biblical Repository,” with which the latter was united, in 1835-'8; and the “Bibliotheca Sacra” in 1844-'52. He was appointed professor of Hebrew in Andover theological seminary in 1837, received the degree of D. D. from Dartmouth in 1844, and in 1848 was elected associate professor of sacred literature. During his twenty-four years of editorial labor he issued thirty-one octavo volumes of the periodicals with which he was connected. His work in connection with the “Quarterly Register” was especially valuable. He designed to make it a storehouse of facts for present and future generations, and it contains indispensable materials for the historian. In the pages of the other periodicals named, Dr. Edwards’s contributions were chiefly criticisms of current (especially biblical) literature and disquisitions on the science of education. While occupied with his labors in this field he published several works, among which are the “Eclectic Reader” (1835); “Biography of Self-Taught Men” (1831); “Memoir of Henry Martin,” with an introductory essay (1831); “Memoirs of E. Cornelius” (1833); a volume on the “Epistle to the Galatians”; and the “Missionary Gazetteer” (1832). He was also a frequent contributor to the religions press, and wrote various pamphlets and the more important portions of several books in collaboration with Profs. Sears, Felton, and Park. Among the latter are “Selections from German Literature” and “Classical Studies.” He was also associated with Samuel H. Taylor in the translation of Kühner’s Greek Grammar.” In 1845 he was compelled to visit Florida for his health, and on his return sailed for Europe, where he spent a year. In 1851 he was again compelled to go south, and was residing there the following winter, when he died. He was an ideal editor and professor, uniting great erudition and a sound judgment with a deep, earnest, and uniform piety. A selection from his sermons and addresses, with a memoir by Prof. Edwards A. Park, was published in Boston in 1853. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Edwards, Cyrus, 1893-1877, Illinois, lawyer.  Actively supported the American Colonization Society in Illinois.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 306; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 143)

EDWARDS, Cyrus, lawyer, b. in Montgomery county, Md., 17 Jan, 1793; d. in Upper Alton, Ill., in September, 1877. In the early history of Illinois he was one of its most prominent and useful citizens. He was frequently elected to the legislature, and was especially conspicuous as a friend of education. He was active in originating the State normal school at Bloomington, and was for thirty-five years president of the board of trustees of Shurtleff college, to which institution he gave real estate valued at $10,000, besides other generous donations. He received the degree of LL. D. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Ellicott, Thomas, Maryland, bank president.  Second President of the Maryland State Colonization Society, 1831.  (Campbell, 1971, p. 19)

Ellsworth, Harry Leavitt, 1791-1858, Hartford, Connecticut, American Colonization Society, Executive Committee, 1840-1841.  Son of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth.  President of the Aetna Life Insurance Company.  (Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 3, Pt. 2, p. 110; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 72, 86)

English, David, founding officer and original Treasurer of the American Colonization Society, 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 26, 30)

Etting, Solomon, Maryland, merchant, banker.  Manager of the Maryland Society of the American Colonization Society.  Co-founder of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 20, 192; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 111)

Evans, Hugh Davey, 1792-1868, Baltimore, Maryland, author, lawyer.  Prominent member of the Maryland Colonization Society. (Campbell, 1971, p. 192; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 382; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 3, Pt. 2, p. 203)

EVANS, Hugh Davey, author, b. in Baltimore, Md., 26 April, 1792; d. there, 16 July, 1868. He left school at thirteen years of age on account of his health, and in 1810 began to study law. He was admitted to practice in Baltimore on 19 April, 1815, took rank, while yet a young man, with Pinckney, Wirt, Reverdy Johnson, and the other leaders of the Maryland bar, and afterward attained eminence as a constitutional lawyer. He was prominent for many years in the councils of the Protestant Episcopal church, and in 1843-'56 edited “The True Catholic,” a high-church periodical. He was also connected with the Philadelphia “Register” in 1853, contributing to it “Thoughts on Current Events,” with the New York “Churchman” in 1854-'6, and the New York “Church Monthly” in 1857-'8, and in the two years last mentioned edited the “Monitor,” a weekly paper published in Baltimore. He was a prominent member of the Maryland colonization society, and prepared a code of laws for the Maryland colony in Liberia (Baltimore, 1847). He received the degree of LL. D. from St. James's college, Maryland, in 1852, and from that time till 1864 was lecturer there on civil and ecclesiastical law. During the civil war Mr. Evans was an earnest supporter of the National government, and in 1861 wrote to the London “Guardian” a letter in defence of the arrests made in Baltimore in that year, which attracted much attention. His published works include “Essay on Pleading” (Baltimore, 1827); “Maryland Common-Law Practice” (1837; revised ed., 1867); “Essays to prove the Validity of Anglican Ordinations,” in reply to Archbishop Kenrick's book on the subject (Baltimore, 1844; second series, 2 vols., 1851); “Theophilus Americanus,” an American adaptation, with additions, of Canon Wordsworth's “Theophilus Anglicanus” (Philadelphia, 1851); “Essay on the Episcopate of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States” (1855); and several pamphlets. After his death appeared his “Treatise on the Christian Doctrine of Marriage,” which he considered his best work (New York, 1870), and a memoir by Rev. Hall Harrison, founded on recollections written by himself (Hartford, Conn., 1870). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888.

Everett, Alexander Hill, 1792-1847, Boston, Massachusetts, newspaper editor of the North American Review, anti-slavery advocate.  Defended the American Colonization Society, and colonization, as anti-slavery.  Raised funds for the Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, pp. 386-387; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 3, Pt. 2, p. 220; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 135, 210, 214)

EVERETT, Alexander Hill, b. in Boston; Mass., 19 March, 1792; d. in Macao, China, 28 June, 1847. He was a son of the Rev. Oliver Everett (who was pastor of the New south church in Boston from 1782 to 1792), and was graduated at Harvard in 1806 with the highest honors of his class, although the youngest of its members. After leaving college he was for a year assistant teacher in Phillips Exeter academy, then studied law in the office of John Quincy Adams, whom in 1809 he accompanied to Russia, residing for two years in his family, attached to the legation. At the close of the war between the United States and Great Britain, Gov. Eustis, of Massachusetts, was appointed minister to the Netherlands, and Mr. Everett went with him as secretary of legation, but after a year of service returned home. On the retirement of Gov. Eustis he was appointed his successor, with the rank of charge d’affaires, and held this post from 1818 till 1824. In 1825-'9 he was minister to Spain, after which he returned home and became proprietor and editor of the “North American Review,” to which he had, during the editorship of his brother Edward, been one of the chief contributors. From 1830 till 1835 he sat in the legislature of Massachusetts; in 1840 he resided, as a confidential agent of the United States, in the island of Cuba, and while there was appointed president of Jefferson college, Louisiana, but was soon obliged by failing health to return to New England. On the return of Caleb Cushing from his mission to China, Mr. Everett was appointed commissioner to that empire, and sailed for Canton, 4 July, 1845. He was detained by illness at Rio Janeiro, and returned home, but in the summer of 1846 made a second and more successful attempt to reach his destination, and died in Macao. Mr. Everett’s first published compositions appeared in the “Monthly Anthology,” the vehicle of the Anthology club of Boston, which consisted of George Ticknor, William Tudor, Dr. Bigelow and Rev. J. S. J. Gardiner, Alexander H. Everett, and Rev. Messrs. Buckminster, Thacher, and Emerson. The “Monthly Anthology,” established by Phineas Adams, was published from 1803 till 1811 Mr. Everett published “Europe, or a General Survey of the Political Situation of the Principal Powers, with Conjectures on their Future Prospects” (London and Boston, 1822; translated into German, French, and Spanish, the German version edited by Prof. Jacobi, of the University of Halle); “New Ideas on Population, with Remarks on the Theories of Godwin and Malthus” (London and Boston, 1822); “America, or a General Survey of the Political Situation of the Several Powers of the Western Continent, with Conjectures on their Future Prospects, by a Citizen of the United States” (Philadelphia, 1827; London, 1828); “Critical and Miscellaneous Essays” (first series, Boston, 1845; second series, 1847); and “Poems” (1845). To Sparks’s “American Biography” Mr. Everett contributed the lives of Joseph Warren and Patrick Henry. His principal contributions to the “North American Review” are on the following subjects: French Dramatic Literature; Louis Bonaparte; Private Life of Voltaire; Literature of the 18th Century; Dialogue on Representative Government, between Dr. Franklin and President Montesquieu; Bernardin de St. Pierre; Madame de Staël; J. J. Rousseau; Mirabeau; Schiller; Chinese Grammar; Cicero on Government; Degerando’s History of Philosophy; Lord Byron; British Opinions on the Protecting System; The American System; Life of Henry Clay; Early Literature of Modern Europe; Early Literature of France; Origin and Character of the Old Parties; and Thomas Carlyle. His principal contributions to the “Democratic Review” are the following: The Spectre Bride-groom, from Bürger; The Water-King, a Legend of the Norse; The Texas Question; and The Malthusian Theory. His contributions to the “Boston Quarterly Review” were chiefly, if not altogether, devoted to an exposition of questions connected with the currency. Among Mr. Everett’s published orations are the following: On the Progress and Limits of the Improvement of Society; The French Revolution; The Constitution of the United States; Discovery of America by the Northmen; Battle of New Orleans; and Battle of Bunker Hill.  Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Everett, Edward, statesman.  Supporter of colonization and the American Colonization Society.  (Burin, 2005, p. 28; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 3, Pt. 2; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 207, 245w)

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Fairfax, Ferdinando, charter member of the American Colonization Society, founded in Washington, DC, in 1816.  Favored individual manumission of slaves.  (Burin, 2005, pp. 10-11, 14; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 2-4, 252n2)

Fendall, Philip Ricard, 1794-1868, Alexandria, Virginia, Recording Secretary, American Colonization Society, 1834-41, Executive Committee, 1839-40.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, pp. 429-430; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 226)

FENDALL, Philip Ricard, lawyer, b. in Alexandria, Va., in 1794; d. in Washington, D. C., 16 Feb., 1868. He was graduated at Princeton in 1815, and was admitted to the bar in Alexandria about 1820. Some years later he removed to Washington, D. C., where he filled the office of district attorney in 1841-'5, and 1849-'53. He ranked for years as the ablest advocate of the capital, and wrote much on literary and political topics. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Finley, James C., Dr., Cincinnati, Ohio.  Manager of the Cincinnati auxiliary of the American Colonization Society (ACS).  Son of ACS founder Reverend Robert S. Finley.  Volunteered to go to Liberia.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 140)

Finley, Robert, Reverend, 1772-1817, clergyman, founding officer and Vice President, American Colonization Society, 1816.  (Burin, 2005; Campbell, 1971, pp. 12, 18, 38-40, 42, 80, 94, 97, 131, 189; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 460; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 3, Pt. 2, p., p. 391; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 15-35 passim, 26, 30, 33, 69)

Finley, Robert Smith, 1804-1860, Cincinnati, Ohio.  Member and Secretary of the Cincinnati auxiliary of the American Colonization Society (ACS).  Son of ACS founder Robert S. Finley.  Traveling agent for the Society.  Organized numerous societies in Ohio.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 460; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 140, 144-145, 147, 210, 227, 231-232, 234)

Fisk, Wilbur, 1792-1839, Middletown, Connecticut, educator, President of Wesleyan University.  American Colonization Society, Vice-President, 1836-1840.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, pp. 467-468; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 3, Pt. 2, p. 415; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 132, 231).

FISK, Wilbur, educator, b. in Brattleboro, Vt., 31 Aug., 1792; d. in Middletown, Vt., 22 Feb., 1839, was graduated at Brown in 1815, and studied law, but, after a long and serious illness, abandoned the profession and entered the itinerant ministry in 1818, when he was licensed as a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal church. He took high rank as a pulpit orator, was pastor for two years in Craftsbury, Vt., and in 1819 removed to Charlestown, Mass. At the conference of 1820 he was admitted into full membership, ordained as a deacon in 1822, and from 1823 till 1827 was presiding elder of the Vermont district, which then comprised the whole of Vermont east of the Green mountains. He was placed upon the superannuated list, but was requested, in so far as health would allow, to act as agent for Newmarket academy, at that time the only Methodist institution in New England. While here, he was chosen to make the address of welcome to Lafayette in 1824. He was also a delegate to the general conference in that year, and was chosen to write the address to the British conference. He was chaplain of the Vermont legislature in 1826, and was one of the founders and principal of the Wesleyan academy in Wilbraham, Mass., 1826-'31, and a delegate to the general conference of 1828, when he was elected bishop of the Canada conference, but declined. In 1829 he also refused the presidency of La Grange college, Alabama, and a professorship in the University of Alabama. In 1830 he was chosen first president of the Wesleyan university, in whose organization he had materially aided. The duties of that office were entered upon in 1831; the institution under his direction became the most influential of any in the Methodist denomination in America. At the general conference of 1832 his appeals in behalf of Indian missions resulted in the organization of the Oregon mission, and he was at this time instrumental in founding Williamstown academy. For years he was useful to educational interests at large by recommending or furnishing professors and presidents to the rapidly multiplying colleges of the far west. In search of health, he passed the winter of 1835-'6 in Italy, and the summer of 1836 in England, when he also represented the M. E. church of the Wesleyan conference as a delegate. He was elected bishop of that church in 1836, but declined. In 1839 he became a member of the board of education of Connecticut. He was said to be unsurpassed in eloquence and fervor as a preacher, and was often compared to Fénélon, being endowed with like moral and mental traits. The degree of D. D. was conferred on him by Augusta college, Kentucky, in 1829, and by Brown in 1835. His published works are: “Inaugural Address” (New York, 1831); “Calvinistic Controversy” (1837); “Travels in Europe” (1838); “Sermons and Lectures on Universalism: Reply to Pierpont on the Atonement, and other Theological and Educational Works and Sermons.” His account of his European travels had a wide circulation and wits greatly admired. His “Life and Writings” were published by the Rev. Joseph Holdich, D. D. (New York, 1842). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Fitzhugh, William Henry, 1792-1830, Ravenswood, Virginia, philanthropist.  Vice-President of the American Colonization Society (ACS).  Wrote articles promoting the ACS.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 475; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 114, 174, 177)

FITZHUGH, William Henry, philanthropist, b. in Chatham, Stafford co., Va., 8 March, 1792; d. in Cambridge, Md., 21 May, 1830. He was a son of William F. Fitzhugh, a patriot of the Revolution, was graduated at Princeton in 1808, and settled on the patrimonial domain of “Ravensworth,” Fairfax co., Va. He was elected vice-president of the American colonization society, and took an active interest in it, supporting it both with voice and pen. In 1826 he published a series of essays in behalf of the cause, over the signature of “Opimius,” in the columns of the Richmond “Inquirer.” He was also the author of an address delivered on the ninth anniversary of the association, and of a review of “Tazewell's Report” in the “African Repository” (August and November, 1828). In one of his essays he expresses the opinion that “the labor of the slave is a curse on the land on which it is expended,” which seems like a truism now, but was bold doctrine then. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Forbes, Abner, Vermont, general, soldier.  Officer, Vermont auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1835-38.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 76)

Forest, David M., founding charter member of the American Colonization Society, Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Forman, E., charter member of the American Colonization Society, Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Foster, Henry Allen, b. 1800, Cazenovia, New York, U.S. Congressman and Senator.  Vice-President, American Colonization Society, 1838-41.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 511; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

FOSTER, Henry Allen, senator, b. in Hartford, Conn., 7 May, 1800. He removed to Cazenovia, N. Y., in early life, and, after receiving a common school education, entered the law office of David B. Johnson, and was admitted to the bar in 1822. He was a member of the state senate from 1831 till 1834, and again from 1841 till 1844. He was a representative in congress from 1837 till 1839, having been elected as a Democrat, and in 1844 was appointed United States senator in place of Silas Wright, Jr., serving till 1847. From 1863 till 1869 he held the office of judge of the fifth district of the supreme court. He has resided for many years in Rome, N. Y.  Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Frelinghuysen, Theodore, 1787-1862, Franklin, Somerset Co., Newark, New Jersey, attorney, jurist, statesman, opposed slavery.  U.S. Senator, 1829-1836.  Mayor of Newark, New Jersey.  Chancellor of the University of New York.  Whig Vice Presidential candidate.  American Colonization Society, Vice-President, 1833-1841.  Member of the board of the African Education Society.  (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, pp. 543-544; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 1, p. 16; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 16, 86, 128, 189-190, 207, 225, 228)

FRELINGHUYSEN, Theodore, lawyer, b. in Franklin, Somerset co., N. J., 28 March, 1787; d. in New Brunswick, N. J., 12 April, 1861, was sent at the age of eleven to the grammar-school connected with Queen's college (now Rutgers), where he remained two years, but, on the resignation of the rector of the school, returned to his home at Millstone. Having no great disposition to apply himself to study, he persuaded his father to give him the privilege of remaining at home and becoming a farmer. But consent to this plan had been only partially obtained when his father was called away on public business. His step-mother, a wise and estimable woman, believing that this arrangement would not be a judicious one, packed young Theodore's trunk and sent him to the classical academy recently established at Baskingridge, N. J., by the Rev. Dr. Robert Finley. Here he completed his preparatory studies, and in 1802 was admitted to the junior class of the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, from which he was graduated with high honors in 1804. In the mean time, his father having died, his elder brother, John, a lawyer, had taken charge of the homestead at Millstone. In the office of this brother he began the study of law, and, after being admitted to the bar, removed to Newark, N. J., where he married, and entered upon the practice of his profession, in which he soon attained eminence. In 1817 he was appointed attorney-general by a legislature whose majority was opposed to him in politics. Twice afterward he was reappointed on the expiration of his term of office, and finally resigned it in 1829, having been elected a senator of the United States. Prior to this, however, he had declined the office of justice of the supreme court, tendered to him in 1826. The first important matter on which he addressed the senate was the bill for the removal of the Indians beyond the Mississippi river. This speech availed nothing, however, except to bring its author prominently before the nation, and to give to him the title of the “Christian statesman.” He also took an active part in the discussion of the pension bill, the president's protest, the removal of the deposits from the U. S. bank, the compromise, and the tariff. His senatorial term expired in 1835, when be resumed his professional labors in Newark. In 1836 Newark was incorporated as a city. In the following year Mr. Frelinghuysen was elected its mayor, and in 1838 he was re-elected to the same position. In 1839 he was unanimously chosen chancellor of the University of New York, and while in the occupancy of this office was, in May, 1844, nominated by the Whig national convention at Baltimore for the vice-presidency of the United States on the same ticket with Henry Clay. He continued in the discharge of his duties as chancellor of the university until 1850, when he accepted the presidency of Rutgers college, and in the same year was formally inducted into that office, continuing in it until the day of his death. Mr. Frelinghuysen was an earnest advocate of the claims of organized Christian benevolence, and it is said of him that no American layman was ever associated with so many great national organizations of religion and charity. He was president of no less than three of these during some period of their existence, while his name may be found on the lists of officers of all the rest with scarcely an exception. For sixteen years he was president of the American board of commissioners for foreign missions. From April, 1846, till his death he was president of the American Bible society; from 1842 till 1848, of the American tract society; from 1826 till near the close of his life, vice-president of the American Sunday-school union; and for many years vice-president of the American colonization society. In the work of all these institutions he took an active part. His remains were buried in the grounds of the 1st Reformed Dutch church in New Brunswick, N. J. See a memoir of him by Rev. Talbot W. Chambers, D. D. (1863).  Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

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Gadsen, Christopher Edwards, Reverend, 1785-1852, Charleston, South Carolina, clergyman.  Rector of St. Philips, later Bishop of South Carolina.  Agent of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 568; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

GADSDEN, Christopher Edwards, P. E. bishop, b. in Charleston, S. C., 25 Nov., 1785; d. there, 24 June, 1852, obtained his early education in the “Associate Academy” in Charleston. In 1802 he entered the junior class in Yale college, and was graduated with honor in 1804. John C. Calhoun was a member of the same class, and the friendship formed with young Gadsden continued through life. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Benjamin Moore, in St. Paul's chapel, New York city, 25 July, 1807, and priest by Bishop Madison, in Williamsburg, Va., 14 April, 1810. In January, 1808, he took charge of the ancient parish of Berkeley, S. C., but in February, 1810, he was chosen to be assistant minister of St. Philip's church, Charleston. On the death of the rector, in 1814, Mr. Gadsden was elected to fill his place. He received the degree of D. D. from South Carolina college in 1815. After the death of Bishop Bowen in 1839, Dr. Gadsden was elected bishop, and was consecrated in Trinity church, Boston, Mass., 21 June, 1840. Bishop Gadsden's episcopate of twelve years was marked by great devotion, energy, prudence, and discretion, and he displayed noble qualities which endeared him to both clergy and laity. On his visitations he was particularly attentive to the colored people, often collecting them for purposes of devotion and instruction. He confirmed more than twenty of them on the first occasion when he administered the rites. He edited for several years the “Gospel Messenger,” published several occasional sermons, a tract on “The Prayer-Book as it Is,” and three valuable charges to the clergy, and an essay on the life of Bishop Dehon (1833).  Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Gales, Joseph, Jr., 1786-1860, Washington, DC, journalist, newspaper editor.  Vice-President, American Colonization Society, 1833-41.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 575; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 1, p. 100; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

GALES, Joseph, journalist, b. in Eckington, near Sheffield, Eng., 10 April, 1786; d. in Washington, D. C., 21 July, 1860, was educated at the University of North Carolina, learned printing in Philadelphia, and in 1807 became the assistant, and afterward the partner, of Samuel Harrison Smith, who had removed the “Independent Gazetteer” to Washington and changed its name to the “National Intelligencer.” In 1810 he succeeded to the sole proprietorship of the journal, which was then published tri-weekly. In 1812 he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, William Winston Seaton, and in January, 1813, began the daily issue of the “Intelligencer,” which was finally suspended, after the death of both partners, in 1869. From the time of their coming together up to 1820, Gales and Seaton were the exclusive reporters as well as the editors of their journal, one devoting himself to the house, the other to the senate. As a rule they only published running reports, but on special occasions the proceedings were given entire. But for their industry, a most important part of our national record would now be lost. Notably was this true in the case of the memorable debate between Hayne and Webster. The original notes of the latter's speech form a volume of several hundred pages, and, corrected and interlined by the statesman's own hand, were carefully treasured by Mr. Gales. At this period he had abandoned the practice of reporting, and the full reproduction of that particular oration was an exception to the custom of the office. The “Intelligencer” was a strong advocate of the war of 1812, and when the British under Admiral Cockburn entered Washington, the anger of that officer seemed to be especially aroused against the journal, one of whose editors was English by birth. He at first proposed burning the office, but being dissuaded by occupants of the adjoining houses, wreaked his revenge upon the printing materials and other property. He ordered the valuable library to be taken into the street and burned, himself assisting in the destruction, the type thrown from the windows, and the presses broken, thus causing a loss of several thousand dollars. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Gales, Joseph, Sr., 1760-1841, Raleigh, North Carolina, Washington, DC, newspaper editor.  Editor of the Raleigh Register.  Treasurer, American Colonization Society (ACS), 1834-39, Executive Committee, 1839-40, officer of the Raleigh auxiliary of the ACS.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, pp. 574-575; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 1, p. 100; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 71,77, 235)

GALES, Joseph, journalist, b. in England in 1760; d. in Raleigh, N. C., 24 Aug., 1841. He was originally a printer and bookseller at Sheffield, where he established and published the “Register.” His democratic principles having involved him in difficulty with the government, he sold his journal in 1793 to James Montgomery, the poet, who had been brought up in his family, and emigrated to the United States, settling in Philadelphia. There he edited the “Independent Gazetteer,” in which, being a proficient stenographer, he first printed short-hand reports of the debates in congress. In 1799 he sold the paper to Samuel Harrison Smith and removed to Raleigh, N. C., where he founded a new “Register,” the publication of which he continued until he had reached an advanced age, when he transferred it to his son, Weston Raleigh, and went to Washington to spend the remainder of his life with his eldest son, Joseph. Here he became interested in African colonization, and was an active member of the American colonization society almost to the day of his death. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Gallaudet, Thomas Hopkins, 1787-1851, Hartford, Connecticut, clergyman, educator.  Principal of the Hartford Deaf and Dumb Asylum.  Active in Boston auxiliary of the American Colonization Society (ACS).  Raised considerable funds for colonization.  Worked with ACS agent Leonard Bacon.  Member and supporter of the Connecticut Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 579; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 1, p. 111; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 126-134, 158, 162-163, 193-194)

GALLAUDET, Thomas Hopkins, educator, b. in Philadelphia, 10 Dec., 1787; d. in Hartford, Conn., 9 Sept., 1851. His family was of Huguenot origin. At an early age he moved with his parents to Hartford, Conn. He was graduated at Yale in 1805, and after hesitating for some time as to whether he should study law, engage in trade, or study divinity, entered the Theological seminary at Andover in 1811. He was licensed to preach in 1814. His attention having been called to the neglected condition of the deaf and dumb in this country, he went to Europe in 1815, visiting in suc­cession London, Edinburgh, and Paris. The work which had been begun in France in 1760, by De l’Epée, was successfully carried on by the Abbé Sicard; and that which had been begun near Edinburgh, at an earlier date, by Thomas Braidwood, and later transferred to London, was under the charge of Dr. Joseph Watson, a nephew of Braidwood. Gallaudet made himself familiar with the methods in use at both establishments, and, returning to the United States in 1816, he brought with him as assistant Laurent Clerc, a deaf-mute, and pupil of Sicard. In the following year, his arrangements having been completed, he began work in Hartford, Conn., with seven pupils. His school soon became a prosperous asylum, and its founder, amid much encouragement, remained in charge as president until 1830, when he resigned on ac­count of ill health. He continued, however, to take an active part in the management of the institution, as one of its directors, and to give it the benefit of his wisdom and experience. In 1838 he became chaplain of the retreat for the insane at Hartford, Conn., which office he retained till his death. During his lifetime he published extensively. Among his works are “Sermons Preached to an English Congregation in Paris” (London, 1818); “Bible Stories for the Young”; “Child’s Book of the Soul” (3d ed., 1850); “Youth's Book of Natural Theology,” and other similar works. He also was a contributor to the “Annals of the Deaf and Dumb” (Hartford). A biography of Gallaudet was published by Heman Humphrey, D. D. (New York, 1858). Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Galusha, Jonas, 1753-1834, New Hampshire, statesman, lawyer, jurist.  Former Governor of New Hampshire.  Headed local auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 584; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 132)

GALUSHA, Jonas, statesman, b. in Norwalk, Conn., 11 Feb., 1753; d. in Shaftsbury, Vt., 24 Sept., 1834. He removed to Shaftsbury in 1775, and in the battle of Bennington led two companies. Besides filling many minor offices, he was councillor for thirteen years, judge of the supreme court for two years, and governor of the state from 1809 till 1813, and again from 1815 till 1820. In 1808, 1820, and 1824 he was a presidential elector. He was president of the constitutional conventions of 1814 and 1822. In his religious sentiments Gov. Galusha took an interest in the affairs of the Baptist church, of which he was a member. –His son, Elon, clergyman, b. in Shaftsbury, Vt.; d. in Lockport, N. Y., 13 June, 1859, was ordained to the Baptist ministry in early life, and served as pastor of churches in Whitesborough, Utica, Rochester, and Lockport, N. Y. At one time he was president of the Baptist missionary convention of New York. He was an attractive preacher, and one of the most widely known and esteemed among the Baptist ministers of his generation. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Gannett, Ezra Stiles, Reverend, 1801-1871, Boston, Massachusetts, clergyman.  Co-founder of the Young Men’s Colonization Society in Boston.  Co-founded monthly paper, The Colonizationist and Journal of Freedom.  Strong supporter of the American Colonization Society (ACS).  He defended the ACS and its policies against criticism by William Lloyd Garrison.  Gave sermons against slavery in his church.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, pp. 588-589; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 134, 206, 214)

GANNETT, Ezra Stiles, clergyman, b. in Cambridge, Mass., 4 May, 1801; d. near Boston, Mass., 25 June, 1871. He was a grandson of President Ezra Stiles of Yale. He was graduated at Harvard with first honors in 1820, studied divinity, and in 1824 became the colleague of Dr. William E. Channing in Boston, finally succeeding him as pastor. He was a foremost figure in the Unitarian controversy which agitated the New England churches in 1825-'35, but in the latter year was driven by illness to Europe, and during the summer following his return was seized with a paralytic stroke, which left him a cripple for life. He became co-editor of the “Christian Examiner,” and his lectures on Unitarian doctrines were the delight of Boston theologians. He delivered the annual election sermon in 1842, in 1843 the “Dudleian lecture,” and in that year was given the degree of D. D. by Harvard. He took part in a second controversy which arose in the Unitarian denomination, and, circumscribed as he was by his infirmity, he did a large amount of ministerial and literary work. He was president of the American Unitarian association in 1847-'51, of the Benevolent fraternity of churches in 1857-'62, and an overseer of Harvard in 1835-'58. On the bronze bas-reliefs of the soldiers’ monument on Boston common his face appears in the sanitary commission group; and the Freedman's aid society had his best labors in its behalf. He was killed by a railway accident. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Gano, Stephan, Reverend, 1762-1828, Providence, Rhode Island, clergyman.  Committee member, American Colonization Society, Rhode Island.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 589; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 1, p. 125; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 86)

GANO, Stephen, clergyman, b. in New York city, 25 Dec., 1762; d. in Providence, R. I., 18 Aug., 1828, was prevented by the Revolutionary war from receiving a collegiate education, and pursued a short course of study with reference to the medical profession. He was appointed a surgeon in the army at the age of nineteen, and for two years was in the public service. While practising as a physician at Tappan, now Orangetown, N. Y., he was converted, and, at once feeling it his duty to give himself to the Christian ministry, was ordained 2 Aug., 1786. After preaching for a time in the vicinity of New York he was called, in 1792, to the pastorate of the 1st Baptist church in Providence, R. I. He accepted the call and spent the remainder of his days in ministering, with distinction and success, to this, the oldest Baptist church in the United States. He was one of the overseers of Brown university from 1794 till his death. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Garland, Hudson M., Virginia, Executive Committee, American Colonization Society, 1840-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Garland, James, Lynchburg, Virginia, Vice-President, American Colonization Society, 1838-41, Director, 1839-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Garnett, James Mercer, 1770-1843, Essex County, Virginia, agriculturist, political leader.  Organized Liberian Society to raise funds for the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 607; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 1, p. 156; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

GARNETT, James Mercer, agriculturist and politician, b. in Essex county, Va., 8 June, 1770; d. there in May, 1843. He was a founder and the first president of the U. S. agricultural society, and wrote extensively on rural economy. He was also interested in educational progress, maintained a female seminary in his own house for twelve years, and was active in introducing into Virginia improved methods of instruction. He acted with the Democratic party, and engaged in a controversy with Matthew Carey, the protectionist. He was an intimate friend of his colleague in congress, John Randolph, of Roanoke. .After serving for several years in the Virginia legislature he was twice elected to the National house of representatives, and served from 2 Dec., 1805, to 3 March, 1809. In 1829 he was a member of the Virginia constitutional convention. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Gibson, Joseph T., colonial agent of the Maryland State Colonization Society.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 220, 224, 227-229, 237, 239)

Giles, William Fell, Baltimore, Maryland.  Leader, Maryland State Colonization Society.  (Campbell, 1971, p. 192)

Gillet, Eliphalet, Hallowell, Maine.  Regional agent for the American Colonization Society and Secretary of the Maine Missionary Society.  Brother-in-law of Ralph Gurley.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 131)

Gilmer, Thomas Walker, 1802-1844, Virginia, statesman, lawyer, Governor of Virginia, U.S. Congressman.  Member of the American Colonization Society (ACS) and Secretary of the Albemarle, Virginia, auxiliary of the ACS.  Worked with William Broadnax in March 1833 to get state appropriation for support of the ACS.  It appropriated $18,000 a year for five years.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 657; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 1, p. 308; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 107, 183-184)

GILMER, Thomas Walker, statesman, b. in Virginia; d. near Washington, D. C., 28 Feb., 1844. He studied law, practised in Charlottesville, Va., and served for many years in the state legislature, for two sessions as speaker. In 1840-'1 he was governor of Virginia. In 1841 he entered congress, and, although he had been elected as a Whig, sustained President Tyler's vetoes. He was re-elected as a Democrat in 1842 by a close vote. His competitor, William L. Goggin, contested the result without success. On 15 Feb., 1844, he was appointed by President Tyler secretary of the navy, and resigned his seat in congress on 18 Feb. to enter on the duties of the office, but ten days later was killed by the bursting of a gun on board the United States steamer “Princeton.” Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Goldsborough, Charles, 1765-1834, Annapolis, Maryland, statesman, U. S. Congressman, Governor of Maryland, 1818-1819.  Member of the Annapolis auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p 672; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 1, p. 365; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 70)

GOLDSBOROUGH, Charles, statesman, b. in Maryland in 1760; d. in Shoals, Md., 13 Dec., 1834. He served in congress as a Federalist from 2 Dec., 1805, to 3 March, 1817, and was governor of Maryland in 1818-'19. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Goldsborough, Robert Henry, 1780-1836, New Easton, Maryland.  Charter founding member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, in 1816.  Democratic U.S. Senator from Maine, 1813-1819, 13835-1836.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 673; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 27, 258n14)

Goodhue, Jonathan, 1783-1848, New York, merchant-trader, officer of the New York auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 679; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

GOODHUE, Jonathan, merchant, b. in Salem, Mass., 21 June, 1783; d. in New York city in 1848, received a liberal education, and at the age of fifteen entered the counting-room of John Norris, of Salem, who was extensively engaged in trade with Europe and the West Indies. After two voyages as supercargo, Mr. Goodhue established himself in business in New York city in 1807. The long embargo, and the subsequent war with England, were unfavorable to his business, and on receipt of the news of the conclusion of peace he despatched an express to Boston, with instructions to proclaim the tidings in every town on the route. After this period Mr. Goodhue became a prosperous merchant. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Graham, Isabella, Mrs., 1742-1814, New York, pioneer philanthropist, reformer, activist.  Member of the New York auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 702; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 1, p. 474; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

GRAHAM, Isabella, philanthropist, b. in Lanarkshire, Scotland, 29 July, 1742; d. in New York city, 27 July, 1814. She was the daughter of John Marshall, who educated her carefully. In 1765 she married Dr. John Graham, a physician of Paisley, and accompanied him with his regiment to Canada, where she spent four years. Her husband was then ordered to the island of Antigua, where he died in 1774. Mrs. Graham returned to Scotland, but in 1789 came to New York city, and established a school for young ladies, in which for many years she was eminently successful. Before leaving Scotland she had founded the Penny society, now known as the Society for the relief of the destitute sick, and she continued to labor in the same field in New York. Among the more important of the institutions established by her are the Widows and Orphans’ asylum societies, the Society for the promotion of industry, and the first Sunday-school for ignorant adults. She also aided in organizing the first missionary society, and the first monthly missionary prayer-meeting in the city of her residence. She was the first president of the Magdalen society, systematically visited the inmates of the hospital and the sick female convicts in the state-prison, and distributed Bibles and tracts long before there was a Bible or tract society in New York—Her daughter, Joanna, who survived her, was the mother of George W. Bethune (q. v.). Of the “Life and Letters” of Mrs. Graham (1816; last edition, London, 1838) more than 50,000 copies have been sold in this country, and many editions issued in England and Scotland. See “Letters and Correspondence,” selected by her daughter, Mrs. Bethune (New York, 1838); and Mason’s “Memoir of Isabella Graham,” published by the American tract society. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Green, John, Kentucky.  Supported colonization and tried to raise state tax to support the colonization movement.  Friend of anti-slavery American Colonization Society representative Robert J. Breckinridge.  Wrote anti-slavery articles in local papers.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 145-146)

Greenleaf, Jonathan, Reverend, 1785-1865, Wells, Maine, clergyman, author, editor.  Agent for the Maine auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 756; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 131)

GREENLEAF, Jonathan, clergyman, b. in Newburyport, Mass., 4 Sept., 1785; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 24 April, 1865, was licensed to preach in 1814, and was pastor at Wells, Me., in 1815-'28. He then took charge of the Mariner's church, Boston, removed to New York in 1833, and edited the “Sailor's Magazine.” He was also secretary of the Seamen's friend society, first in Boston and then in New York, till 1841. He organized the Wallabout Presbyterian church in Brooklyn in 1843, and was its pastor till his death. Bowdoin gave him the degree of M. A. in 1824, and Princeton that of D. D. in 1863. Dr. Greenleaf published “Sketches of the Ecclesiastical History of Maine” (Portsmouth, N. H., 1821); “History of New York Churches” (New York, 1846); and “Genealogy of the Greenleaf Family.” (1854). Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Griffin, Edwin Dorr, Reverend, 1770-1837, New York, co-founder and officer in the New York auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Secretary of the African Education Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. II, p. 764; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 1, p. 619; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 17, 40)

GRIFFIN, Edward Dorr, clergyman, b. in East Haddam, Conn., 6 Jan., 1770; d. in Newark, N. J., 8 Nov., 1837. He was graduated at Yale in 1790, and studied theology under Jonathan Edwards, of New Haven, who was subsequently president of Union college. He was licensed as a preacher in October, 1792, and in January, 1793, began his ministerial work at New Salem, Conn. In June, 1795, Mr. Griffin was ordained pastor of the Congregational church at New Hartford, and afterward held pastorates at Newark, N. J., and Boston, Mass. Union college gave him the degree of D. D. in 1808, and he became professor of rhetoric in the recently established Andover theological seminary, 21 June, 1809, which chair he filled until 1811. In 1821 he was chosen president of Williams, and remained there till 1836. He was an eloquent and popular preacher, and published “Lectures delivered in Park Street Church, Boston” (Boston, 1813), and “Sixty Sermons on Practical Subjects” (New York, 1844). A selection from his works, with a memoir of the author by Rev. William B. Sprague, D. D., was published after his death (2 vols., 1839). See also “Recollections of Rev. E. D. Griffin,” by Parsons Cooke (1856). Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Griscom, John, Dr., 1774-1852, New York, educator, reformer, activist.  Member of the New York auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 2; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 2, p. p. 7; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 40, 84)

GRISCOM, John, educator, b. in Hancock’s Bridge, Salem co., N. J., 27 Sept., 1774; d. in Burlington, N. J., 26 Feb., 1852. His education was acquired at the Friends’ academy in Philadelphia, and later he was given charge of the Friends’ monthly-meeting school, in Philadelphia, with which he continued for thirteen years. In 1806 he removed to New York, where he was actively engaged in teaching for twenty-five years. He was one of the first to teach chemistry, and gave public lectures on this subject to his classes early in 1806. When the medical department of Queen’s (now Rutgers) college was established in 1812, he was appointed to the chair of chemistry and natural history, which he held until 1828. His colleague, Dr. John W. Francis, said of him that “for thirty years Dr. Griscom was the acknowledged head of all teachers of chemistry among us” in New York. He was the projector of the New York high-school, an institution on the Lancaster or monitorial system of instruction, which had great success from 1825 till 1831, under his supervision. For many years Dr. Griscom’s lectures were given in the “New York Institution,” which had been built in 1795 for an almshouse. Halleck, in his “Fanny,” thus alludes to the building and its occupants:

“It remains
To bless the hour the Corporation took it
Into their heads to give the rich in brains
The worn-out mansion of the poor in pocket,
Once ‘the old almshouse,’ now a school of wisdom,
Sacred to Scudder's shells and Dr. Griscom.”

From 1832 till 1834 he had charge of a Friends’ boarding-school in Providence, R. I., also lecturing in various places on chemistry and natural philosophy. Subsequently he resided in Haverford, Pa., and then in Burlington, N. J., where he was town superintendent and trustee of public schools, and also was associated in the reorganization of the common-school system of New Jersey. During his residence in New York he was instrumental in organizing the Society for the prevention of pauperism and crime, which was the parent of many important reform movements. For many years he contributed abstracts of chemical papers from the foreign journals to Silliman’s “Journal of Science.” He was also the author of “A Year in Europe” (New York, 1823), and “Monitorial Instruction” (1825). See a “Memoir of John Griscom,” by his son (New York, 1859). Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Griswold, Alexander Viets, (Bishop), 1766-1843, Boston, Massachusetts, clergyman.  Vice-President, American Colonization Society, 1840-41.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 2; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 2, p. 7; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Gurley, Ralph Randolph, 1797-1872, Washington, DC, clergyman, co-founder of Liberia.  Secretary, American Colonization Society (ACS), 1833-41, Executive Committee, 1839-41.  Agent for the ACS.  Served as administrator (Secretary), keeping records and writing the Annual Report.  (Burin, 2005, pp. 16, 23-24, 64, 100; Campbell, 1971, pp. 9, 10, 48, 49, 53, 97, 112, 113, 138, 174; Dumond, 1961, pp. 172, 199-200; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 163; Sorin, 1971, p. 30; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, pp. 13-14; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 2, p. 56; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 9, p. 731; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 35, 76, 78-79, 94-103, 119-135, 171, 197-198, 202-204, 207-209, 213-214, 222-223, 237-239, 242, 307-308)

GURLEY, Ralph Randolph, clergyman, b. in Lebanon, Conn., 26 May, 1797; d. in Washington, D. C., 30 July, 1872. He was graduated at Yale in 1818, removed to Washington, D. C., and was licensed to preach as a Presbyterian, but was never ordained. From 1822 till 1872 he acted as the agent and secretary of the American colonization society, visited Africa three times in its interests, and was one of the founders of Liberia. He also went to England to solicit aid in the work of colonization. During the first ten years of his agency the annual income of the society increased from $778 to $40,000. He delivered addresses in its behalf in all parts of the country, edited “The African Repository,” and, besides many reports, wrote the “Life of Jehudi Ashmun” (New York, 1839); “Mission to England for the American Colonization Society” (1841); and “Life and Eloquence of Rev. Sylvester Larned” (New York, 1844). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, pp. 13-14.

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Habersham, Robert, Savannah, Georgia, District Attorney.  Member of the Savannah auxiliary of the American Colonization society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

Hale, David, 1791-1849, Boston, Massachusetts, journalist, philanthropist.  Member of the American Colonization Society Committee in Boston.   Nephew of soldier and patriot Nathan Hale.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 31; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 2, p. 98; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 86)

Hall, James, Dr., physician.  Colonial doctor for the American Colonization Society in Africa.  Served as General Agent of the Maryland State Colonization society.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 55, 56, 58, 69, 70-90, 119-120, 126-127, 149, 166-170, 182-183, 193, 200, 205, 207-209)

Hall, Willard, 1780-1875, Delaware, lawyer, jurist.  Vice-President, American Colonization Society, 1840-41.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 45; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 2, p. 146; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Hallock, Gerard, 1800-1866, New York, New York, newspaper editor.  Officer in the New York City auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Purchased the freedom of 100 enslaved persons and paid for their travel to Liberia.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 52; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 2, p. 157; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 135)

HALLOCK, Gerard, journalist, another son of Moses, b. in Plainfield, Mass., 18 March, 1800; d. in New Haven, Conn., 4 Jan., 1866, was graduated at Williams in 1819, and began his connection with the press in 1824 by the establishment of the “Boston Telegraph,” a weekly, which the year following was merged into the “Boston Recorder.” In 1827 he became part owner of the “New York Observer,” and in 1828 was associated with David Hale in the publication of the “Journal of Commerce.” In 1828 the partners fitted out a schooner to cruise off Sandy Hook and intercept European vessels, and in 1833 they ran an express from Philadelphia to New York, with eight relays of horses, and thus were enabled to publish the proceedings of congress a day in advance of their contemporaries. When other journals imitated their enterprise, they extended their relays to Washington. This system of news collection resulted in the establishment of the celebrated Halifax express. Mr. Hallock was an unflinching supporter of a national pro-slavery policy, yet he was generous in his treatment of individual slaves who made appeals to his charity. He purchased and liberated not less than one hundred of these, and provided for their transportation to Liberia. He contributed largely to the support of the religious denomination to which he belonged, and spent about $119,000 in the erection and maintenance for fourteen years of a church in New Haven. He was a founder of the Southern aid society, designed to take the place of the American home missionary society in the south, when the latter withdrew its support from slave-holding churches. Mr. Hallock was a thorough classical scholar, and early in life gave lessons in Hebrew to clergymen. In August, 1861, the “Journal of Commerce,” with four other papers, was presented by the grand jury of the U. S. circuit court for “encouraging rebels now in arms against the Federal government, by expressing sympathy and agreement with them, the duty of acceding to their demands, and dissatisfaction with the employment of force to overcome them.” This was followed by the promulgation of an order from the post-office department at Washington forbidding the use of the mails by the indicted papers. These measures resulted in the retirement of Mr. Hallock from journalism. He sold his interest in his paper, and thenceforth refrained from contributing a line to the public press. This abrupt change of all his habits of life, action, and thought brought with it the seeds of disease, and he only survived the loss of his cherished occupation a little more than four years. See “Life of Gerard Hallock” (New York, 1869). Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Halsey, Luther, 1794-1880, Princeton, New Jersey, clergyman, professor, educator.  Officer of the New Jersey auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 54; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 85)

Halstead, William, Trenton, New Jersey, Director, 1839-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Harper, Charles C., Baltimore, Maryland.  Active in the American Colonization Society movement with his father, Robert Goodloe Harper.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 38, 52, 53; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 101, 110-111, 161, 190)

Harper, Robert Goodloe, 1765-1825, Fredericksburg, Virginia, Baltimore, U.S. Senator, lawyer.  Founding officer, Baltimore auxiliary, American Colonization Society (ACS), 1817.  Active advocate and supporter of the colonization movement.  Invented the name “Liberia” for ACS colony.  Father of ACS activist Charles C. Harper.  (Burin, 2005, p. 66; Campbell, 1971, pp. 21, 88; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 88; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 2, p. 285; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 39, 65, 70, 84, 104, 110, 169, 174)

HARPER, Robert Goodloe, senator, b. near Fredericksburg, Va., in 1765; d. in Baltimore, Md., 15 Jan., 1825. He was the son of poor parents, who, during his childhood, removed to Granville, N. C. 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 southern campaign of the Revolution. He was graduated at Princeton in 1785, studied law in Charleston, S. C., and was admitted to the bar in 1786. He soon removed to the interior of the state where he became known through a series of articles on a proposed change in the constitution. He was elected to the legislature and subsequently sent to congress, serving from 9 Feb., 1795, till 3 March, 1801, and warmly supporting the administrations of Washington and Adams. He served in the war of 1812, being 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, and removed to Baltimore, Md., where he attained eminence at the bar. He was employed with Joseph Hopkinson as counsel for Judge Samuel Chase, of the U.S. supreme court, in his impeachment trial. At a dinner given at Georgetown, D. C., 5 June, 1813, in honor of the recent Russian victories, he gave as a toast “Alexander the Deliverer,” following it with a speech eulogizing the Russians. On the publication of the speech, Robert Walsh addressed the author a letter in which he expressed the opinion that the oration 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 (1814) published in a volume. Harper was elected to the U. S. senate from Maryland to serve from 29 Jan., 1816, till 3 March, 1821, but resigned in the former year to become one of the Federalist candidates for vice-president. In 1819-'20 he visited Europe with his family, and after his return employed himself chiefly in the promotion of schemes of 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). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Harrison, Jesse Burton, Lynchburg, Virginia, orator, lawyer, politician.  Agent for the American Colonization Society (ACS) in Lynchburg, Virginia.  Wrote articles advocating for the ACS and colonization.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 109, 183, 205)

Hawes, Joel, Reverend, 1789-1867, Hartford, Connecticut, clergyman, author.  Member of the Hartford Committee of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 119; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 86)

HAWES, Joel, clergyman, b. in Medway, Mass., 22 Dec., 1789; d. in Gilead, Conn., 5 June, 1867. He was of humble parentage, and had few opportunities for early education. He was graduated at Brown in 1813, studied theology at Andover, and on 4 March, 1818, was ordained pastor of the 1st Congregational church in Hartford, Conn., of which he was sole pastor until 1860, senior pastor until 1864, and pastor emeritus until his death. In 1844 he visited Europe and the east, spending several months in Asia Minor and Turkey, where his daughter was a missionary. He was a frequent contributor to the religious press and periodicals, and published “Lectures to Young Men,” which had a large circulation in the United States and Great Britain (Hartford, 1828); “Tribute to the Memory of the Pilgrims” (1830); “Memoir of Normand Smith” (1839); “Character Everything to the Young” (1843); “The Religion of the East” (1845); “Looking-Glass for the Ladies, or the Formation and Excellence of Female Character” (1845); “Washington and Jay” (1850); and “An Offering to Home Missionaries,” discourses on home missions, which he published at his own expense for distribution to the missionaries of the American home missionary society (1865.) Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Hawley, William, Reverend, Washington, DC, American Colonization Society, Manager, 1833-39, Vice-President, 1839-1841.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 54, 112, 235)

Hawley, William Merrill, 1802-1869, lawyer, jurist, State Senator.  Member, Free Soil Radical Delegation in August 1848.  (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 124)

HAWLEY, William Merrill, lawyer, b. in Delaware county, N. Y., 23 Aug., 1802; d. in Hornellsville, N. Y., 9 Feb., 1869. His father, one of the earliest settlers in western New York, was a farmer, and unable to give his children a classical education. William went to the common school, and at the age of twenty-one removed to Almond, Alleghany co., where be cleared a piece of land for tillage. In the spring of 1824 be was elected constable, and began the study of law to assist him in this office. He was admitted to the bar in 1826, removed to Hornellsville the next year, and practised his profession until his appointment in 1846 as first judge of Steuben county. He served in the state senate, was a delegate to the Democratic national convention of 22 May, 1848, which met in Baltimore, and was identified with the “Free-soil radical delegation,” which culminated in the National convention of 9 Aug., 1848, held in Buffalo, N. Y., in which Martin Van Buren was nominated for the presidency. Judge Hawley was one of the committee appointed to introduce the resolutions the essential elements of which were afterward adopted by the Republican party. After his retirement from the state senate he did not again enter public life, but, devoting himself to his profession, acquired a large fortune, and practised until a short time before his death. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Henderson, Archibald, 1768-1822, Raleigh, North Carolina, lawyer, former U.S. Congressman.  Officer in the Raleigh auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Brother of Leonard Henderson.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 164; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 2, p. 523; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

Henderson, Leonard, 1772-1833, Raleigh, North Carolina, jurist, former U.S. Congressman.  Officer in the Raleigh auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Brother of Archibald Henderson.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, pp. 164-165; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 4, Pt. 2, p. 529; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

Henkle, Moses Montgomery, 1798-1864, Springfield, Methodist clergyman, missionary.  Agent for the American Colonization society in Ohio.  He founded auxiliaries of the ACS in Bellbrook, Bainbridge, Eaton, Full Creek, Germantown, Lancaster and Oxford.  Signed up prominent Ohio politicians to the cause of colonization.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 167; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 138)

HENKLE, Moses Montgomery, clergyman, b. in Pendleton county, Va., 23 March, 1798; d. in Richmond, Va., in 1864, became an itinerant minister of the M. E. church in Ohio in 1819, was for some time a missionary to the Wyandotte Indians, and preached in that state and in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama. He established a religious magazine, and associated himself in 1845 with Dr. McFerrin in the editorship of the “Christian Advocate” at Nashville. In 1847 he established the “Southern Ladies’ Companion,” which he conducted for eight years. He taught in Philadelphia and other places, and was thus engaged in Baltimore, Md., during the civil war, but was sent within the Confederate lines. He published, among other books, a volume of “Masonic Addresses” (1848); “The Primary Platform of Methodism” (1851); “Analysis of Church Government” (1852); “Life of Bishop Bascom” (1853); and “Primitive Episcopacy” (1856). Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Herbert, John Carlyle, Beltsville, Maryland, U.S. Congressman.  Charter member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, in December 1816.  Vice-President, 1833-41, and life member of the ACS.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 27, 30, 70, 258n14)

Hersey, John, Reverend, clergyman.  Assistant agent for the Maryland State Colonization Society in Africa.  Assistant to Dr. James Hall.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 58, 69-71, 74, 78-79)

Hinckley, Orramel S., Reverend, Tennessee, clergyman.  Agent of the American Colonization Society (ACS) in Tennessee.  Brother-in-law of ACS agent Ralph Gurley.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 145)

Hodge, Charles, 1797-1878, Princeton, New Jersey, professor, theologian.  Officer, New Jersey auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Burin, 2005, p. 117; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 223; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 5, Pt. 1, p. 98; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 85)

Hoffman, George, Maryland, railroad organizer.  First president of the Maryland State Colonization society, 1831.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 19, 38, 192)

Hoffman, Jacob.  Founding officer and manager of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Hoffman, James, Maryland, businessman.  First Treasurer and founding officer of the Maryland State Colonization Society in 1831.  (Campbell, 1971, p. 20)

Hoffman, John, Baltimore, Maryland.  Original co-founder and officer of the Maryland State Colonization Society.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 20, 192-193)

Hoffman, Peter, Baltimore, Maryland.  Leader and original co-founder of the Maryland State Colonization Society.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 20, 192)

Holmes, Oliver, Jr., dentist.  Colonial agent and leader of expedition to Africa for the Maryland State Colonization Society in February 1836.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 87, 89,90, 91-92, 119, 127)

Howard, Benjamin Chew, 1791-1872, Maryland, statesman, U.S. Congressman.  Manager of the Maryland Society of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, pp. 276-277; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 5, Pt. 1, p. 275; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 111)

HOWARD, Benjamin Chew, Baltimore county, Md., 5 Nov., 1791; d. in Baltimore, Md., 6 March, 1872. He was graduated at Princeton in 1809, studied law, and practised in Baltimore. In 1814 he assisted in organizing troops for the defence of Baltimore, and commanded the “mechanical volunteers” at the battle of North Point Oil 12 Sept. of that year. He served in congress in 1829-'33, having been chosen as a Democrat, and again in 1835-'9, when he was chairman of the committee on foreign relations, and drew up its report on the boundary question. From 1843 till 1862 he was reporter of the supreme court of the United States, and in 1861 he was a delegate to the peace congress. Princeton gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1869. He published “Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of the United States from 1843 till 1855” (Baltimore, 1855). Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Howard, Charles, Maryland.  Manager of the Maryland Society of the American Colonization Society (ACS).  Brother-in-law of ACS leader Francis Scott Key.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 38, 43, 44, 86-87, 192, 204, 209, 242; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Howard, James, Maryland, businessman, railroad president.  First Secretary and founding member of the Maryland State Colonization society in 1831.  (Campbell, 1971, p. 20)

Howard, John Eager, 1752-1826, Maryland, Revolutionary War soldier and hero, federalist Governor and U.S. Senator.  Member of the Baltimore auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 277; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 5, Pt. 1, p. 279; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 70)

HOWARD, John Eager, soldier, b. in Baltimore county, Md., 4 June, 1752; d. there, 12 Oct., 1827. His grandfather, Joshua, an officer in the Duke of York's army during the Monmouth rebellion, was the first of the name of Howard that settled in this country. John's father, a wealthy planter, bred him to no profession, but gave him an excellent education under the care of tutors. At the beginning of the Revolution he joined the American army, commanded a company of the flying camp under Gen. Hugh Mercer at the battle of White Plains, 28 Oct., 1776. Upon the disbanding of his corps in December of this year, he was commissioned major in the 4th Maryland regiment of the line, and was engaged at Germantown and Monmouth. In 1780, as lieutenant-colonel of the 5th Maryland regiment, he fought at Camden under Gen. Horatio Gates, and in the latter part of the year joined the army under Gen. Nathanael Greene. He displayed great gallantry at the battle of Cowpens, 17 Jan., 1781, and the bayonet-charge under his command secured the American victory. At one time of this day he held the swords of seven British officers, who had surrendered to him. In honor of his services at this battle he received a medal from congress. He materially aided Gen. Greene in effecting his retreat at Guilford Court-House, 15 March, 1781, and at the battle of Hobkirk's Hill, on 15 April, succeeded to the command of the 2d Maryland regiment. At Eutaw Springs, where his command was reduced to thirty men, and he was its only surviving officer, he made a final charge, and was severely wounded. From 1789 till 1792 he was governor of Maryland, and he was U. S. senator in 1796-1803. He declined, in 1796, a seat in Washington's cabinet. In anticipation of war with France, Washington selected him in 1798 as one of his major-generals. During the panic in Baltimore in 1814, subsequent to the capture of Washington by the British troops, he prepared to take the field, and was an earnest opponent of capitulation. In 1816 he was a candidate for vice-president. His wife, MARGARET, was a daughter of Chief-Justice Benjamin Chew. The illustration represents his residence of “Belvedere,” which was in an extensive park, and remained standing until recently. Lafayette was entertained there in 1824. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Hubbard, Samuel, 1785-1847, Boston, Massachusetts, lawyer, jurist.  Member of the American Colonization Society Committee in Boston.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 204; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 86)

HUBBARD, Samuel, jurist, b. in Boston, Mass., 2 June, 1785; d. there, 24 Dec., 1847. He was graduated at Yale in 1802, studied law, and settled in Biddeford, Me. In 1810 he returned to Boston, and became a partner of his former law tutor, Judge Charles Jackson. His ability and character won him the foremost place at the bar. From 1842 until his death he was a judge of the supreme court of Massachusetts. Harvard conferred on him the degree of LL. D. in 1842. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Humphrey, Heman, 1779-1861, Amherst, Massachusetts, clergyman, temperance and anti-slavery advocate.  President of Amherst College.  Supported American Colonization Society.  Raised funds for the Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 312; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 5, Pt. 1, p. 369; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 132)

HUMPHREY, Heman, clergyman, b. in West Simsbury, Conn., 26 March, 1779; d. in Pittsfield, Mass., 3 April, 1861. He taught to enable him to attend college, and was graduated at Yale in 1805. After studying theology under Timothy Dwight, he was pastor of the Congregational church at Fairfield, Conn., in 1807-'17, in Pittsfield in 1817-'23, and president of Amherst in 1823-'45. Taking charge of that institution in its infancy, he contributed largely to its growth and prosperity, and impressed upon it much of his own character. He was one of the pioneers of the temperance reform in 1810, preached six sermons on intemperance, and in 1813 drew up a report to the Fairfield association of ministers, which is believed to be the first temperance tract that was published in the United States. Among the most celebrated of his tracts on this subject is his “Parallel between Intemperance and the Slave-Trade,” which was also a formidable indictment of slavery. For fifty years he was a constant contributor to periodicals and literary journals. Middlebury gave him the degree of D. D. in 1823. He published “Essays on the Sabbath” (New York, 1830); “Tour in France, Great Britain, and Belgium” (1838); “Domestic Education” (Amherst, 1840); “Letters to a Son in the Ministry” (New York, 1842); “Life and Writings of Prof. Nathan W. Fiske” (1850); “Life and Writings of Thomas S. Gallaudet” (1857); and “Sketches and History of Revivals” (1859). Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Huntt, Henry, Washington, DC, Manager, American Colonization Society, 1833-34.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Hurd, Abel, Mulatto seaman.  Sent to Africa by Robert G. Harper to explore for the American Colonization Society.  Died on expedition.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 110)

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Iredell, James, 1788-1853, North Carolina, lawyer, jurist, U.S. Senator, Governor of North Carolina.  President of Edenton auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Son of Governor (Justice) Iredell.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 355; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 108)

IREDELL, James, senator, b. in Edenton, N. C., 2 Nov., 1788; d. there, 13 April, 1853, was graduated at Princeton in 1806, and studied law. In the war of 1812-'15 he raised a company of volunteers, and, marching with them to Norfolk, took part in the defence of Craney island. After the peace he returned to his profession, and was sent to the state house of representatives in 1816. He was speaker in 1817 and 1818, and was returned to the legislature for many years. In March, 1819, he was nominated a judge of the superior court, but resigned two months later. He was elected governor of North Carolina in 1827, and on the resignation of Nathaniel Macon was sent to the U. S. senate, serving from 23 Dec., 1828, till 3 March, 1831. He subsequently practised law in Raleigh, and for many years was reporter of the decisions of the supreme court. He was one of three commissioners who were appointed to collect and revise the laws in force in the state. The result of their labors was the revised statutes passed at the session of 1836-'7, and afterward published (Raleigh, 1837). His, reports of law-cases in the supreme court fill thirteen volumes, and the reports of cases in equity eight volumes (Raleigh, 1841-'52). He published also a “Treatise on the Law of Executors and Administrators,” and a “Digest of all the Reported Cases in the Courts of North Carolina, 1778 to 1845” (Raleigh, 1839-'46). Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

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Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845, Washington, DC, general, statesman.  Seventh United States President.  General, U.S. Army.  Vice President, 1816, American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, pp. 373-384; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 5, Pt. 1, p. 526; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 30, 174, 175, 178, 186, 222)

James, Thomas Chalkley, Dr., 1766-1835, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, physician.  Vice-President, American Colonization Society (ACS), 1833-1836.  Founder and officer of the Pennsylvania Society of the ACS.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 399; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 5, Pt. 1, p. 588; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 125)

JAMES, Thomas Chalkley, physician, b. in Philadelphia in 1766; d. there, 25 July, 1835. His father, Abel, a Quaker of Welsh origin, was a successful merchant of Philadelphia, and his mother was a daughter of Thomas Chalkley, the Quaker preacher. The son was educated at Robert Prout's school, studied medicine, and was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1787. He then went as surgeon of a ship to the Cape of Good Hope, and studied in London and Edinburgh from 1790 till 1793, when he returned to the United States. In 1803 he established the School of obstetrics in Philadelphia, and for twenty-five years was physician and obstetrician in the Pennsylvania hospital. He was for some years president of the Philadelphia college of physicians, and was professor of midwifery in the University of Pennsylvania from 1811 till 1834. Dr. James was founder of the Pennsylvania historical society, and contributed to the “Port-folio” in 1801, under the signature “P. D.,” translations of the “Idyls” of Gessner. He was associate editor of the “Eclectic Repertory.” Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Janeway, Jacob Jones, Reverend, 1774-1858, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, clergyman.  Official of the General Assembly, founding officer of the Philadelphia auxiliary of the American Colonization Society in 1817.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 401; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 39, 72)

JANEWAY, Jacob Jones, clergyman, b. in New York city, 20 Nov., 1774; d. in New Brunswick, N. J., 27 June, 1858. His family came from England early in the 17th century, one of whom bore with him the charter of Trinity church, of which he was a vestryman. He died about 1708. Jacob was graduated at Columbia in 1794, and after studying theology with Dr. John H. Livingston was ordained in 1799 a colleague of Dr. Ashbel Green in the 2d Presbyterian church of Philadelphia, where he remained till 1828. After holding for one year the chair of theology in the Western theological seminary, he was pastor of a Dutch Reformed church in New Brunswick, N. J., for two years. He was elected a trustee of Rutgers in 1820, and in 1833-'9 was vice-president of that college and professor of literature, the evidences of Christianity, and political economy. He then became a trustee of Princeton, and was engaged till his death in general missionary work and in supervision of theological and collegiate institutions in the Presbyterian church. He was a director of Princeton theological seminary from 1813 till 1830 and again from 1840 till 1858, and president of the board from 1849 till 1858. He joined his friend, Dr. Jonathan Cogswell, of New Brunswick, in the gift of a church to the Presbyterians of that city. His publications include “Commentaries on Romans, Hebrews, and Acts” (3 vols., Philadelphia., 1866); “Internal Evidence of the Holy Bible”; “Communicants’ Manual”; “On Unlawful Marriage” (New York, 1844); “Review of Dr. Schaff on Protestantism”; and essays and letters on religious subjects. See “Memoir of Rev. Jacob J, Janeway,” by his son, Thomas L. Janeway (Philadelphia, 1861). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Johnson, Cave, Kentucky, strong supporter of the American Colonization Society in Kentucky.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 139)

Jones, Walter, 1776-1861, Washington, DC, general, soldier, noted constitutional lawyer.  American Colonization Society founding officer and Board of Managers, 1816, Vice-President, 1833-1841, Manager, 1834-1839, Director, 1839-1840.  Worked with Henry Clay and other notables.  (Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 5, Pt. 2, pp. 203-204; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 27, 51, 208)

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Kemp, James Bishop, 1764-1827, Baltimore, Maryland, clergyman.  Vice President of the Maryland Society of the American Colonization Society.  (Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 5, Pt. 2, p. 318; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 111, 115)

Kennard, John H., Baltimore, Maryland.  Traveling agent for the Young Men’s Colonization Society in Baltimore, Maryland.  Recruited emigrants for colony in Africa.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 101-102)

Kennedy, John H., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Philadelphia Society of the American Colonization Society.  Assistant to head Ralph Gurley.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 125-126, 174, 175)

Ker, John, Mississippi, Vice-President, American Colonization Society, 1839-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Key, Francis Scott, 1779-1843, Washington, DC, author of the U.S. national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner.  American Colonization Society founding officer and Board of Managers, Vice-President, 1833-1841, Manager, 1834-1839, Director, 1839-1840.  (Burin, 2005, pp. 14, 24; Campbell, 1971, pp. 7, 10; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, pp. 529-530; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 5, Pt. 2, p. 363; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 51, 55-56, 114, 124, 126, 130, 189-190, 208)

KEY, Francis Scott, author, b. in Frederick county, Md., 9 Aug., 1780; d. in Baltimore, Md., 11 Jan., 1843, was the son of John Ross Key, a Revolutionary officer. He was educated at St. John's college, studied law in the office of his uncle, Philip Barton Key, and began to practise law in Frederick City, Md., but subsequently removed to Washington, where he was district attorney for the District of Columbia. When the British invaded Washington in 1814, Ross and Cockburn with their staff officers made their headquarters in Upper Marlboro, Md., at the residence of a planter, Dr. William Beanes, whom they subsequently seized as a prisoner. Upon hearing of his friend's capture, Key resolved to release him, and was aided by President Madison, who ordered that a vessel that had been used as a cartel should be placed at his service, and that John S. Skinner, agent for the exchange of prisoners, should accompany him. Gen. Ross finally consented to Dr. Beanes's release, but said that the party must be detained during the attack on Baltimore. Key and Skinner were transferred to the frigate “Surprise,” commanded by the admiral's son, Sir Thomas Cockburn, and soon afterward returned under guard of British sailors to their own vessel, whence they witnessed the engagement. Owing to their position the flag at Fort McHenry was distinctly seen through the night by the glare of the battle, but before dawn the firing ceased, and the prisoners anxiously watched to see which colors floated on the ramparts. Key's feelings when he found that the stars and stripes had not been hauled down found expression in “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which gained for him a lasting reputation. On arriving in Baltimore he finished the lines which he had hastily written on the back of a letter, and gave them to Capt. Benjamin Eades, of the 27th Baltimore regiment, who had participated in the battle of North Point. Seizing a copy from the press, Eades hastened to the old tavern next to the Holliday street theatre, where the actors were accustomed to assemble. Mr. Key had directed Eades to print above the poem the direction that it was to be sung to the air “Anacreon in Heaven.” The verses were first read aloud by the printer, and then, on being appealed to by the crowd, Ferdinand Durang mounted a chair and sang them for the first time. In a short period they were familiar throughout the United States. A collection of Key's poems was published with an introductory letter by Roger B. Taney (New York, 1857). James Lick bequeathed the sum of $60,000 for a monument to Key, to be placed in Golden Gate park, San Francisco, Cal., and it was executed by William W. Story in Rome in 1885-'7. The height of this monument is fifty-one feet. It consists of a double arch, under which a bronze figure of Key is seated. It is surmounted by a bronze statue of America with an unfolded flag. The material is travertine, a calcareous stone of a reddish yellow hue, extremely porous, but of great durability. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Kilty, William, 1757-1821, Annapolis, Maryland, Army surgeon, lawyer, jurist, Chancellor (governor) of Maryland.  Member of the Annapolis auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 5, Pt. 2, p. 375; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 70)

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Ladd, William, 1788-1841, Minot, Maine, peace advocate, philanthropist, opponent of slavery.  Organized an auxiliary of the American Colonization Society (ACS) in Maine.  Defended colonization to those who opposed it.  Ladd stated that the ACS “deserves the patronage of all who are, from principle, opposed to slavery.”  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 585; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 5, Pt. 2, p. 527; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 131, 210)

LADD, William, philanthropist, b. in Exeter, N. H., 10 May, 1778; d. in Portsmouth, N. H., 9 April, 1841. He was graduated at Harvard in 1797, and on leaving college embarked as a sailor on one of his father’s vessels, became a skilful navigator, and was captain of some of the finest ships that sailed from New England ports until he left the ocean at the beginning of the war of 1812. He resided at Minot, Me., and took an active part in organizing the American peace society, of which he was for many years president. The society was founded in 1828, and for a long period he was the only active and responsible officer. He gave his main attention to this society and the object it represented until the end of his life. In its interests he edited the “Friend of Peace,” established by Dr. Noah Worcester, and the “Harbinger of Peace,” which succeeded it as the organ of the society, and published a number of essays and occasional addresses on the subject of peace, including an “Address to the Peace Society of Maine” (1824), one to that of Massachusetts (1825), and “An Essay on the Congress of Nations” (Boston, 1840). He carried his views to the extent of denying the right of defensive war, and caused this principle to be incorporated into the constitution of his society. See his “Memoir,” by John Hemmenway (Boston, 1872). Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Lafayette, Marquis de, 1757-1834, France, general, Revolutionary War hero.  Honorary Vice President, 1825, and member of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 118; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, pp. 586-590)

Lafayette, George, France, American Colonization Society, Vice-President, 1835-41

Lafayette, Marie J., France, honorary Vice President of the American Colonization Society, 1833-1835.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 118)

Laird, John, Manager of the American Colonization Society, Washington, DC, 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Lansing, John Jr., 1754-1829(?), Albany, New York, jurist.  Officer and founding member of the Albany auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Son of Chancellor John Lansing.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 615; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 5, Pt. 2, p. 608; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 81)

Latrobe, John Hazlehurst Boneval, 1803-1891, Baltimore, Maryland, lawyer.  Manager, American Colonization Society (ACS), 1833-1834.  President of the ACS, appointed in 1853.  Manager, Maryland State Colonization Society.  Son of U.S. Capitol architect Benjamin Latrobe.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 12, 18, 20-21, 54, 73, 135, 139, 141, 144, 148, 155, 165, 174, 192, 203-207, 212, 239, 241-242; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 1, p. 27; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 110-111, 112, 157-161, passim 189, 190-191, 232-233, 308)

Laurie, James, Reverend, 1778-1853, Washington, DC, clergyman.  American Colonization Society founding officer and Board of Managers, 1816, Manager, 1833-1839, Vice-President, 1838-1841.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 30, 54, 235; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, p. 632)

LAURIE, James, clergyman, b. in Edinburgh, Scotland, 11 Feb., 1778; d. in Washington, D. C., 18 April, 1853. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh and licensed to preach in 1800. About 1802 the Rev. John M. Mason, who was then in Scotland, urged him to emigrate to the United States and enter the service of the Associate Reformed church. This denomination had formed a new congregation in Washington, D. C., of which Mr. Laurie was installed pastor in June, 1803. For several years he preached in the old treasury building, which was burned by the British in 1814. He labored to build a church, and travelled from Boston, Mass., to Savannah to solicit aid with such success that in 1807 a brick edifice was opened for service, which was the second Protestant church in Washington. He held charge of this pastorate for forty-six years, and was also employed in the treasury, holding office till his death. Williams gave him the degree of D. D. in 1815. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Lear, B. L., founding charter member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Leavitt, Joshua, 1794-1873, New York, reformer, temperance activist, editor, lawyer, clergyman, abolitionist leader.  Active supporter of the American Colonization Society.  Helped in raising funds for the Society.  Founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), New York, 1833.  Manager, AASS, 1833-1837.  Executive Committee, AASS, 1834-1840.  Recording Secretary, AASS, 1838-1840.  Executive Committee, American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (A&FASS).  Advocated political action to end slavery, which led him to help found the Liberty Party.  Edited the newspaper, The Evangelist, which was founded by abolitionists Arthur and Lewis Tappan.  He later became editor of The Emancipator, which was founded by Arthur Tappan in 1833.  Leavitt toured extensively, lecturing against slavery.  His speeches were edited into a pamphlet entitled, “The Financial Power of Slavery.”  It was one of the most widely circulated documents against slavery.  (Blue, 2005, pp. 20, 25, 34, 45, 50, 54, 94, 119, 122; Davis, 1990; Dumond, 1961, pp. 159, 175, 179, 266, 286, 301; Filler, 1960, pp. 24, 63, 101, 132, 142, 150, 168, 172, 174, 177, 189, 194, 266-267; Mitchell, 2007, pp. 1, 7-8, 17, 20, 28-30, 36, 45-49, 167, 217; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 42, 363-364; Sorin, 1971, pp. 51, 68-71, 96, 131, 132; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, pp. 649-650; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 1, p. 84; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985, pp. 518-519; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 13, p. 339; papers in the Library of Congress; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 129-130, 214, 219)

LEAVITT, Joshua, reformer, b. in Heath, Franklin co., Mass., 8 Sept., 1794; d. in Brooklyn, N.Y., 16 Jan., 1873. He was graduated at Yale in 1814, admitted to the bar in 1819, and began to practise in Putney, Vt., in 1821. In 1823 he abandoned his profession for the study of theology, and was graduated at Yale divinity-school in 1825. He settled the same year at Stratford, Conn., where he had charge of a Congregational church until 1828. In 1819, while a student of law in Heath, Mr. Leavitt organized one of the first Sabbath-schools in western Massachusetts, embracing not only the children, but the entire congregation, all of whom were arranged in classes for religious instruction. He also became interested in the improvement of the public schools. Before he entered the theological seminary he prepared a new reading-book, called “Easy Lessons in Reading” (1823), which met with an extensive sale. He subsequently issued a “Series of Readers” (1847), but these were not as popular. When the American temperance society was formed he became its first secretary, and was one of its travelling agents, in many places delivering the first temperance lecture the people had heard. In 1828 he removed to New York city as secretary of the American seamen's friend society and editor of the “Sailor's Magazine.” He established chapels in Canton, the Sandwich islands, Havre, New Orleans, and other domestic and foreign ports. He also aided in founding the first city temperance society, and became its secretary. He became in 1831 editor and proprietor of the newly established “Evangelist,” which under his management soon grew to be the organ of the more liberal religious movements, and was outspoken on the subjects of temperance and slavery. Mr. Leavitt bore a conspicuous part in the early anti-slavery conflict. His denunciation of slavery cost his paper its circulation in the south and a large proportion of it in the north, well-nigh compelling its suspension. To offset this loss he undertook the difficult feat of reporting in full the revival lectures of Charles G. Finney (q. v.), which, though not a short-hand reporter, he accomplished successfully. The financial crisis of 1837 compelled him, while erecting a new building, to sell out the “Evangelist.” In 1833 he aided in organizing the New York anti-slavery society, and was a member of its executive committee, as well as of that of the National anti-slavery society in which it was merged. He was one of the abolitionists who were obliged to fly for a time from the city to escape mob violence. In 1837 he became editor of the “Emancipator,” which he afterward moved to Boston, and he also published in that city “The Chronicle,” the earliest daily anti-slavery paper. In the convention that met at Albany in 1840 and organized the Liberal party, Mr. Leavitt took an active part, and he was also chairman of the national committee from 1844 till 1847. In 1848 Mr. Leavitt became office-editor of the New York “Independent,” and was connected editorially with it until his death. Mr. Leavitt was an earnest and powerful speaker. In 1855 Wabash college conferred on him the degree of D. D. Dr. Leavitt's correspondence with Richard Cobden, and his “Memoir on Wheat,” setting forth the unlimited capacity of our western territory for the growth and exportation of that cereal, were instrumental in procuring the repeal of the English corn laws. During a visit to Europe he also became much interested in Sir Rowland Hill's system of cheap postage. In 1847 he founded the Cheap postage society of Boston, and in 1848-'9 he labored in Washington in its behalf, for the establishment of a two-cent rate. In 1869 he received a gold medal from the Cobden club of England for an essay on our commercial relations with Great Britain, in which he took an advanced position in favor of free-trade. Besides the works already mentioned, he published a hymn-book for revivals, entitled the “Christian Lyre” (1831). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. III, pp. 649-650.

Lee, Edmund I, Mayor of Alexandria, Virginia.  American Colonization Society founding officer and Board of Managers, 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 27, 30, 258n14)

Lee, John, Frederick, Maryland, charter member of the American Colonization Society in 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 27, 258n14)

Lee, Ludwell, Frederick County, Virginia.  Member of the Frederick County auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Son of Revolutionary War hero Henry Lee.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 70)

Lee, Richard Bland, 1761-1827, statesman.  Member of the first U.S. Congress.  Brother of Revolutionary War hero Henry Lee.  Charter member of the American Colonization Society in 1816.  (Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 1, p. 117; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 27, 258n14)

Lee, Richard Henry, Frederick County, Virginia.  Member of the Frederick County auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Grandson of Revolutionary War hero, light horseman, Henry Lee.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 70)

Light, George C., Kentucky, clergyman.  Agent for the American Colonization Society in Kentucky.  Worked with Robert S. Finley.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 145)

Lindsey, Harvey, Executive Committee, American Colonization Society, 1840-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Lipscomb, Phillip D., Reverend, Maryland, clergyman.  Traveling agent for the Maryland State Colonization Society.  (Campbell, 1971, p. 202)

Lloyd, John I., Maryland, lawyer.  Manager, Maryland Society of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 111)

Lookerman, John, founding charter member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, in 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Lowrie, Walter, 1784-1868, New York, New York, educator, merchant, religious leader, statesman.  U.S. Senator, western Pennsylvania, 1819-1825, Secretary of the Senate, 1825-1836.  Member of the Executive Committee, American Colonization Society (ACS), Manager, 1834-1837, Vice President, 1836-1841. (Dumond, 1961, pp. 104-105; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 45; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 1, p. 476; Annals of Congress; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 230, 235)

“The Government of the Union flows as directly from the people as does the government of any of the States.  The circumstance that the delegates who formed the present Constitution, were appointed by the State Legislatures does not detract from this idea; because the instrument was afterward submitted to the people, and had it not bee approved by them, it would have had no more authority than the sweeping of you floor.  The Government of the United States, through limited in its powers, is supreme within the proper sphere of its action.  The respective Governments of the United States and of the several States are sovereign within their proper spheres, and no farther.  Hence it follows that the States are limited sovereignties.  It follows, also, that the right to admit new States, being within the sphere of the General Government is a right which, to that Government, is perfect… the power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations for the territories, and the power to admit new States into the Union, have been given, by the people of the United States, to Congress.  They are powers f the General Government, within the proper sphere of its action, and of course sovereign and supreme.” (Annals of Congress, 16 Cong., 1 Sess., 1819-1820, I p. 107)

LOWRIE, Walter, senator, b. in Edinburgh, Scotland, 10 Dec., 1784; d. in New York city, 14 Dec., 1868. He was brought to the United States when eight years of age by his parents, who settled in Huntingdon county, Pa., but subsequently removed to Butler county. Young Lowrie received a good education, but prosecuted his studies amid many difficulties. At the age of eighteen, he began a course of study with a view to entering the ministry, but was led to change his purpose. He was subsequently a member of the legislature for several years, and was afterward elected U. S. senator from Pennsylvania, and served from 6 Dec., 1819, till 3 March, 1825. On the expiration of his term he was elected secretary of the U. S. senate, an office he held for twelve years. While in the latter body he made his influence felt as a decided and earnest religious man. He was a founder of the Congressional prayer-meeting and the Congressional temperance society, and for many years served as a member of the executive committee of the American colonization society. In 1836 he became corresponding secretary of the Western foreign missionary society, afterward the Presbyterian board of foreign missions. He continued in the charge of his various duties until he was disabled by old age in 1868. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Lufborough, Nathan, founding charter member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, in 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

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MacFarland, William, DC, Secretary, American Colonization Society, 1834-35.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

MacLean, John, 1771-1814, Princeton, New Jersey, professor, chemist.  Officer in New Jersey auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 143-144; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 2, p. 127; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 85)

MACLEAN, John, educator, b. in Glasgow, Scotland, 1 March, 1771; d. in Princeton, N. J., 17 Feb., 1814. He studied chemistry and surgery at Edinburgh, London, and Paris, completed his medical course at Glasgow, and was admitted a member of the faculty of that city at the age of twenty-one. While in Paris he became an adherent of the new theories of chemistry that had been developed by Lavoisier. Embracing republican views, he determined to become an American citizen, and emigrated to the United States in April, 1795. He settled in Princeton, N. J., where he delivered a course of lectures on chemistry, and on 1 Oct., 1795, was appointed professor of chemistry and natural history in the college. In April, 1797, he was appointed professor of mathematics, and natural philosophy also. His chemical instructions embraced the practical applications of chemistry to agriculture and manufactures as well as theoretical science. In the second year of his instructions at Princeton he wrote two “Lectures on Combustion” in answer to a pamphlet by Dr. Joseph Priestley that upheld the phlogistic theory, and a controversy between Priestley and Maclean was carried on for some time in the columns of the New York “Medical Repository.” In 1812 Dr. Maclean accepted the chair of natural philosophy and chemistry at William and Mary college, but at the end of the college year was compelled by sickness to resign. His “Memoir” was written by his son John (printed privately, Princeton, 1885). His son, John, educator, b. in Princeton, N. J., 3 March, 1800; d. there, 10 Aug., 1886, was graduated at Princeton in 1816, taught for a year, entered the Princeton theological seminary in 1818, and was tutor of Greek in the college while attending theological lectures for two years. In 1822 he was appointed professor of mathematics and natural philosophy. In 1829 he exchanged this chair for that of ancient languages. In 1847 he was relieved of the charge of the Latin department. In 1854 he succeeded Dr. James Carnahan as president of the college, which office he resigned in 1868. He was given the degree of D. D. by Washington college, Pa., in 1841, and that of LL. D. by the University of the state of New York in 1854. The legislature of New Jersey, in establishing the common-school system of the state, followed the suggestions of a lecture on “A School System for New Jersey,” delivered by Dr. Maclean before the Literary and philosophical society of New Jersey in January, 1828, and afterward published and widely distributed in pamphlet-form (Princeton, 1829). In the discussion of the questions that divided the Presbyterian church into the old- and new-school branches he took an active part, publishing a series of letters in “The Presbyterian,” afterward issued in pamphlet-form, in defence of the action of the assembly of 1837. Notable among his many contributions to the “Princeton Review” were two articles in 1841 controverting the argument that unfermented grape-juice was used by Jesus Christ in instituting the sacrament of the supper, as affirmed in two prize essays that were widely circulated by the temperance societies of England and the United States. After retiring from the presidency he prepared a “History of the College of New Jersey” (Philadelphia, 1877).   Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Macomb, Alexander, Washington, DC, General in Chief, United States Army, American Colonization Society, Vice-President, 1833-1841.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 155; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 2, p. 155)

Madison, James, 1751-1836, Virginia, founding father, fourth President of the United States.  American Colonization Society, President, 1833-1837.  Madison stated that it was his “earnest prayer, that every success may reward the labors of an institution… so noble in its object of removing a great evil from its own country.”  (Burin, 2005, p. 10; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 165-171; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 2, p. 182; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 7, 24, 107, 180, 183, 187)

MADISON, James, fourth president of the United States, b. in Port Conway, Va., 16 March, 1751; d. at Montpelier, Orange co., Va., 28 June, 1836. His earliest paternal ancestor in Virginia seems to have been John Madison, who, in 1653, took out a patent for land between the North and York rivers on Chesapeake bay. There was a Capt. Isaac Madison in Virginia in 1623-'5, but his relationship to John Madison is matter of doubt. John's son, named also John, was father of Ambrose Madison, who married, 24 Aug., 1721, Frances, daughter of James Taylor, of Orange county, Va. Frances had four brothers, one of whom, Zachary, was grandfather of Zachary Taylor, twelfth president of the United States. The eldest child of Ambrose and Frances was James Madison, b. 27 March, 1723, who married, 15 Sept., 1749, Nelly Conway, of Port Conway. The eldest child of James and Nelly was James, the subject of this article, who was the first of twelve children. His ancestors, as he says himself in a note furnished to Dr. Lyman C. Draper in 1834, “were not among the most wealthy of the country, but in independent and comfortable circumstances.” James's education was begun at an excellent school kept by a Scotchman named Donald Robertson, and his studies, preparatory for college, were completed at home under the care of the Rev. Thomas Martin, clergyman of the parish. He was graduated at Princeton in 1772, and remained there another year, devoting himself to the study of Hebrew. On returning home, he occupied himself with history, law, and theology, while teaching his brothers and sisters. Of the details of his youthful studies little is known, but his industry must have been very great; for, in spite of the early age at which he became absorbed in the duties of public life, the range and solidity of his acquirements were extraordinary. For minute and thorough knowledge of ancient and modern history and of constitutional law he was unequalled among the Americans of the Revolutionary period; only Hamilton, and perhaps Ellsworth and Marshall, approached him in this regard. For precocity of mental development he resembled Hamilton and the younger Pitt, and, like Washington, he was distinguished in youth for soundness of judgment, keenness of perception, and rare capacity for work. Along with these admirable qualities, his lofty integrity and his warm interest in public affairs were well known to the people of Orange, so that when, in the autumn of 1774, it was thought necessary to appoint a committee of safety, Madison was its youngest member. Early in 1776 he was chosen a delegate to the State convention, which met at Williamsburg in May. The first business of the convention was to instruct the Virginia delegation in the Continental congress with regard to an immediate declaration of Independence. Next came the work of making a constitution for the state, and Madison was one of the special committee appointed to deal with this problem. Here one of his first acts was highly characteristic. Religious liberty was a matter that strongly enlisted his feelings. When it was proposed that, under the new constitution, “all men should enjoy the fullest toleration in the exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience,” Madison pointed out that this provision did not go to the root of the matter. The free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience, is something which every man may demand as a right, not something for which he must ask as a privilege. To grant to the state the power of tolerating is implicitly to grant it to the power of prohibiting, whereas Madison would deny to it any jurisdiction whatever in the matter of religion. The clause in the bill of rights, as finally adopted at his suggestion, accordingly declares that “all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience.” The incident illustrates not only Madison's liberality of spirit, but also his precision and forethought in so drawing np an instrument as to make it mean all that it was intended to mean. In his later career these qualities were especially brilliant and useful. Madison was elected a member of the first legislature under the new state constitution, but he failed of re-election because he refused to solicit votes or to furnish whiskey for thirsty voters. The new legislature then elected him a member of the governor's council, and in 1780 he was sent as delegate to the Continental congress. The high consideration in which he was held showed itself in the number of important committees to which he was appointed. As chairman of a committee for drawing up instructions for John Jay, then minister at the court of Madrid, he insisted that, in making a treaty with Spain, our right to the free navigation of the Mississippi river should on no account be surrendered. Mr. Jay was instructed, accordingly, but toward the end of 1780 the pressure of the war upon the southern states increased the desire for an alliance with Spain to such a point that they seemed ready to purchase it at any price. Virginia, therefore, proposed that the surrender of our rights upon the Mississippi should be offered to Spain as the condition of an offensive and defensive alliance. Such a proposal was no doubt ill-advised. Since Spain was already, on her own account and to the best of her ability, waging war upon Great Britain in the West Indies and Florida, to say nothing of Gibraltar, it is doubtful if she could have clone much more for the United States, even if we had offered her the whole Mississippi valley. The offer of a permanent and invaluable right in exchange for a temporary and questionable advantage seemed to Mr. Madison very unwise; but as it was then generally held that in such matters representatives must be bound by the wishes of their constituents, he yielded, though under protest. But hardly had the fresh instructions been despatched to Mr. Jay when the overthrow of Cornwallis again turned the scale, and Spain was informed that, as concerned the Mississippi question, congress was immovable. The foresight and sound judgment shown by Mr. Madison in this discussion added much to his reputation.

His next prominent action related to the impost law proposed in 1783. This was, in some respects, the most important question of the day. The chief source of the weakness of the United States during the Revolutionary war had been the impossibility of raising money by means of Federal taxation. As long as money could be raised only through requisitions upon the state governments, and the different states could not be brought to agree upon any method of enforcing the requisitions, the state governments were sure to prove delinquent. Finding it impossible to obtain money for carrying on the war, congress had resorted to the issue of large quantities of inconvertible paper, with the natural results. There had been a rapid inflation of values, followed by sudden bankruptcy and the prostration of national credit. In 1783 it had become difficult to obtain foreign loans, and at home the government could not raise nearly enough money to defray its current expenses. To remedy the evil a tariff of five per cent. upon sun dry imports, with a specific duty upon others, was proposed in congress and offered to the several  states for approval. To weaken as much as possible the objections to such law, its operation was limited to twenty-five years. Even in this mild form, however, it was impossible to persuade the several states to submit to Federal taxation. Virginia at first assented to the impost law, but afterward revoked her action. On this occasion Mr. Madison, feeling that the very existence of the nation was at stake, refused to be controlled by the action of his constituents. He persisted in urging the necessity of such an impost law, and eventually had the satisfaction of seeing Virginia adopt his view of the matter. 

The discussion of the impost law in congress revealed the antagonism that existed between the slave-states and those states which had emancipated their slaves. In endeavoring to apportion equitably the quotas of revenue to be required of the several states, it was observed that, if taxation were to be distributed according to population, it made a great difference whether or not slaves were to be counted as population. If slaves were to be counted, the southern states would have to pay more than their equitable share into the treasury of the general government; if slaves were not to be counted, it was argued at the north that they would be paying less than their equitable share. Consequently at that time the northern states were inclined to maintain that the slaves were population, while the south preferred to regard them as chattels. The question was settled by a compromise that was proposed by Mr. Madison; according to this arrangement the slaves were rated as population, but in such wise that five of them were counted as three persons. 

In 1784 Mr. Madison was again elected to the Virginia legislature, an office then scarcely inferior in dignity, and superior in influence, to that of delegate to the Continental congress. His efforts were steadfastly devoted to the preparation and advocacy of measures that were calculated to increase the strength of the Federal government. He supported the proposed amendment to the articles of confederation, giving to congress control over the foreign trade of the states; and, pending the adoption of such a measure, he secured in that body the passage of a port bill restricting the entry of foreign ships to certain specified ports. The purpose of this was to facilitate the collection of revenue, but it was partially defeated in its operation by successive amendments increasing the number of ports. While the weakness of the general government and the need for strengthening it were daily growing more apparent, the question of religious liberty was the subject of earnest discussion in the Virginia legislature. An attempt was made to lay a tax upon all the people of that state “for the support of teachers of the Christian religion.” At first Madison was almost the only one to see clearly the serious danger lurking in such a tax; that it would be likely to erect a state church and curtail men's freedom of belief and worship. Mr. Madison's position here well illustrated the remark that intelligent persistence is capable of making one person a majority. His energetic opposition resulted at first in postponing the measure. Then he wrote a “Memorial and Remonstrance,” setting forth its dangerous character with wonderful clearness and cogency. He sent this paper all over the state for signatures, and in the course of a twelvemonth had so educated the people that, in the election of 1785, the question of religious freedom was made a test question, and in the ensuing session the dangerous bill was defeated, and in place thereof it was enacted “that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess and, by argument, maintain their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.” In thus abolishing religious tests Virginia came to the front among all the American states, as Massachusetts had come to the front in the abolition of negro slavery. Nearly all the states still imposed religions tests upon civil the office-holders, from simply declaring a general belief in the infallibleness of the Bible, to accepting the doctrine of the Trinity. Madison's “Religious Freedom Act” was translated into French and Italian, and was widely read and commented upon in Europe. In our own history it set a most valuable precedent for other states to follow.

The attitude of Mr. Madison with regard to paper money was also very important. The several states had then the power of issuing promissory notes and making them a legal tender, and many of them shamefully abused this power. The year 1786 witnessed perhaps the most virulent craze for paper money that has ever attacked the American people. In Virginia the masterly reasoning and the resolute attitude of a few great political leaders saved the state from yielding to the delusion, and among these leaders Mr. Madison was foremost. But his most important, work in the Virginia legislature was that which led directly to the Annapolis convention, and thus ultimately to the framing of the constitution of the United States. The source from which such vast results were to flow was the necessity of an agreement between Maryland and Virginia with regard to the navigation of the Potomac river, and the collection of duties at ports on its banks. Commissioners, appointed by the two states to discuss this question, met early in 1785 and recommended that a uniform tariff should be adopted and enforced upon both banks. But a further question, also closely connected with the navigation of the Potomac, now came up for discussion. The tide of westward migration had for some time been pouring over the Alleghanies, and, owing to complications with the Spanish power in the Mississippi valley, there was some danger that the United States might not be able to keep its hold upon the new settlements. It was necessary to strengthen the commercial ties between east and west, and to this end the Potomac company was formed for the purpose of improving the navigation of the upper waters of the Potomac and connecting them by good roads and canals with the upper waters of the Ohio at Pittsburg—an enterprise which, in due course of time, resulted in the Chesapeake and Ohio canal. The first president of the Potomac company was George Washington, who well understood that the undertaking was quite as important in its political as in its commercial bearings. At the same time it was proposed to connect the Potomac and Delaware rivers with a canal, and a company was organized for this purpose. This made it desirable that the four states—Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania—should agree upon the laws for regulating interstate traffic through this system of water-ways. But from this it was but a short step to the conclusion that, since the whole commercial system of the United States confessedly needed overhauling, it might perhaps be as well for all the thirteen states to hold a convention for considering the matter. When such a suggestion was communicated from the legislature of Maryland to that of Virginia, it afforded Mr. Madison the opportunity for which he had been eagerly waiting. Some time before he had prepared a resolution for the appointment of commissioners to confer with commissioners from the other states concerning the trade of the country and the advisableness of intrusting its regulation to the Federal government. This resolution Mr. Madison left to be offered to the assembly by some one less conspicuously identified with federalist opinions than himself; and it was accordingly presented by Mr. Tyler, father of the future president of that name. The motion was unfavorably received and was laid upon the table, but when the message came from Maryland the matter was reconsidered and the resolution passed. Annapolis was selected as the place for the convention, which assembled on 11 Sept., 1786. Only five states—Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York—were represented at the meeting. Maryland, which had first suggested the convention, had seen the appointed time arrive without even taking the trouble to select commissioners. As the representation was so inadequate, the convention thought it best to defer action, and accordingly adjourned after adopting an address to the states, which was prepared by Alexander Hamilton. The address incorporated a suggestion from New Jersey, which indefinitely enlarged the business to be treated by such a convention; it was to deal not only with the regulation of commerce, but with “other important matters.” Acting upon this cautious hint, the address recommended the calling of a second convention, to be held at Philadelphia on the second Monday of May, 1787. Mr. Madison was one of the commissioners at Annapolis, and was very soon appointed a delegate to the new convention, along with Washington, Randolph, Mason, and others. The avowed purpose of the new convention was to “devise such provisions as shall appear necessary to render the constitution of the Federal government adequate to the exigencies of the Union, and to report to congress such an act as, when agreed to by them and confirmed by the legislatures of every state, would effectually provide for the same.” The report of the Annapolis commissioners was brought before congress in October, in the hope that congress would earnestly recommend to the several states the course of action therein suggested. At first the objections to the plan prevailed in congress, but the events of the winter went far toward persuading men in all parts of the country that the only hope of escaping anarchy lay in a thorough revision of the imperfect scheme of government under which we were then living. The paper-money craze in so many of the states, the violent proceedings in the Rhode Island legislature, the riots in Vermont and New Hampshire, the Shays rebellion in Massachusetts, the dispute with Spain about the navigation of the Mississippi, and the consequent imminent danger of separation between north and south, had all come together; and now the last ounce was laid upon the camel's back in the failure of the impost amendment. In February, 1787, just as Mr. Madison, who had been chosen a delegate to congress, arrived in New York, the legislature of that state refused its assent to the amendment, which was thus defeated. Thus, only three months before the time designated for the meeting of the Philadelphia convention, congress was decisively informed that it would not be allowed to take any effectual measures for raising a revenue. This accumulation of difficulties made congress more ready to listen to the arguments of Mr. Madison, and presently congress itself proposed a convention at Philadelphia identical with the one recommended by the Annapolis commissioners, and thus in its own way sanctioned their action.

The assembling of the convention at Philadelphia was an event to which Mr. Madison, by persistent energy and skill, had contributed more than any other man in the country, with the possible exception of Alexander Hamilton. For the noble political structure reared by the convention, it was Madison that furnished the basis. Before the convention met he laid before his colleagues of the Virginia delegation the outlines of the scheme that was presented to the convention as the “Virginia plan.” Of the delegates, Edmund Randolph was then governor of Virginia, and it was he that presented the plan, and made the opening speech in defence of it, but its chief author was Madison. This “Virginia plan” struck directly at the root of the evils from which our Federal government had suffered under the articles of confederation. The weakness of that government had consisted in the fact that it operated only upon states and not upon individuals. Only states, not individuals, were represented in the Continental congress, which accordingly resembled a European congress rather than an English parliament. The delegates to the Continental congress were more like envoys from sovereign states than like members of a legislative body. They might deliberate and advise, but had no means of enforcing their will upon the several state governments; and hence they could neither raise a revenue nor preserve order. In forming the new government, this fundamental difficulty was met first by the creation of a legislative body representing population instead of states, and secondly by the creation of a Federal executive and a Federal judiciary. Thus arose that peculiar state of things so familiar to Americans, but so strange to Europeans that they find it hard to comprehend it: the state of things in which every individual lives under two complete and well-rounded systems of laws—the state law and the Federal law—each with its legislature, its executive, and its judiciary, moving one within the other. It was one of the longest reaches of constructive statesmanship ever known in the world, and the credit of it is due to Madison more than to any other one man. To him we chiefly owe the luminous conception of the two coexisting and harmonious spheres of government, although the constitution, as actually framed, was the result of skilful compromises by which the Virginia plan was modified and improved in many important points. In its original shape that plan went further toward national consolidation than the constitution as adopted. It contemplated a national legislature to be composed of two houses, but both the upper and the lower house were to represent population instead of states. Here it encountered fierce opposition from the smaller states, under the lead of New Jersey, until the matter was settled by the famous Connecticut compromise, according to which the upper house was to represent states, while the lower house represented population. Madison's original scheme, moreover, would have allowed the national legislature to set aside at discretion such state laws as it might deem unconstitutional. It seems strange to find Madison, who afterward drafted the Virginia resolutions of 1798, now suggesting and defending a provision so destructive of state rights. It shows how strongly he was influenced at the time by the desire to put an end to the prevailing anarchy. The discussion of this matter in the convention, as we read it to-day, brings out in a very strong light the excellence of the arrangement finally adopted, by which the constitutionality of state laws is left to be determined through the decisions of the Federal supreme court.

In all the discussions in the Federal convention Mr. Madison naturally took a leading part. Besides the work of cardinal importance which he achieved as principal author of the Virginia plan, especial mention must be made of the famous compromise that adjusted the distribution of representatives between the northern and the southern states. We have seen that in the congress of 1788, when it was a question of taxation, the south was inclined to regard slaves as chattels, while the north preferred to regard them as population. Now, when it had come to be a question of the apportionment of representation, the case was reversed: it was the south that wished to count slaves as population, while the north insisted that they should be classed as chattels. Here Mr. Madison proposed the same compromise that had succeeded in congress four years before; and Mr. Rutledge, of South. Carolina, who had supported him on the former occasion, could hardly do otherwise than come again to his side. It was agreed that in counting population, whether for direct taxation or for representation in the lower house of congress, five slaves should be reckoned as three individuals. In the history of the formation of our Federal Union this compromise was of cardinal importance. Without it the Union would undoubtedly have gone to pieces at the outset, and it was for this reason that the northern abolitionists, Gouverneur Morris and Rufus King, joined with Washington and Madison and with the pro-slavery Pinckneys in subscribing to it. Some of the evils resulting from this compromise have led historians, writing from the abolitionist point of view, to condemn it utterly. Nothing can be clearer, however, than that, in order to secure the adoption of the constitution, it was absolutely necessary to satisfy South Carolina. This was proved by the course of events in 1788, when there was a strong party in Virginia in favor of a separate confederacy of southern states. By South Carolina's prompt ratification of the constitution this scheme was completely defeated, and a most formidable obstacle to the formation of a more perfect union was removed. Of all the compromises in American history, this of the so-called “three-fifths rule” was probably the most important: until the beginning of the civil war there was hardly a political movement of any consequence not affected by it.

Mr. Madison's services in connection with the founding of our Federal government were thus, up to this point, of the most transcendent kind. We have seen that he played a leading part in the difficult work of getting a convention to assemble; the merit of this he shares with other eminent men, and notably with Washington and Hamilton. Then he was chief author of the most fundamental features in the constitution, those which transformed our government from a loose confederacy of states into a Federal nation; and to him is due the principal credit for the compromise that made the adoption of the constitution possible for all the states. After the adjournment of the convention his services did not cease. Among those whose influence in bringing about the ratification of the constitution was felt all over the country, he shares with Hamilton the foremost place. The “Federalist,” their joint production, is probably the greatest treatise on political science that has ever appeared in the world, at once the most practical and the most profound. The evenness with which the merits of this work are shared between Madison and Hamilton is well illustrated by the fact that it is not always easy to distinguish between the two, so that there has been considerable controversy as to the number of papers contributed by each. According to Madison's own memorandum, he was the author of twenty-nine of the papers, while fifty-one were written by Hamilton, and five by Jay. (See HAMILTON, ALEXANDER.) The question is not of great importance. Very probably Mr. Madison would have had a larger share in the work had he not been obliged, in March, 1788, to return to Virginia, in order to take part in the State convention for deciding upon the ratification of the constitution. The opposition in Virginia was strong and well organized, and had for leaders such eminent patriots as Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee. The debates in the convention lasted nearly a month, and for a considerable part of this time the outlook was not promising. The discussion was conducted mainly between Madison and Henry, the former being chiefly assisted by Marshall, Wythe, Randolph, Pendleton, and Henry Lee, the latter by Mason, Monroe, Harrison, and Tyler. To Mr. Madison, more than to any one else, it was due that the constitution was at length ratified, while the narrowness of the majority—89 to 79—bore witness to the severity of the contest. It did not appear that the people of Virginia were even yet convinced by the arguments that had prevailed in the convention. The assembly that met in the following October showed a heavy majority of anti-Federalists, and under Henry's leadership it called upon congress for a second National convention to reconsider the work done by the first. Senators were now to be chosen for the first U. S. senate, and Henry, in naming Richard Henry Lee and William Grayson, both anti-Federalists, as the two men who ought to be chosen, took pains to mention James Madison as the one man who on no account whatever ought to be elected senator. Henry was successful in carrying this point. The next thing was to keep Mr. Madison out of congress, and Henry's friends sought to accomplish this by means of the device afterward known as “gerrymandering”; but the attempt failed, and Madison was elected to the first national house of representatives. His great knowledge, and the part he had played in building up the framework of the government, made him from the outset the leading member of the house. His first motion was one for raising a revenue by tariff and tonnage duties. He offered the resolutions for creating the executive departments of foreign affairs, of the treasury, and of war. He proposed twelve amendments to the constitution, in order to meet the objection, urged in many quarters, that that instrument did not contain a bill of rights. The first ten of these amendments were adopted and became part of the constitution in 1791.

The first division of political parties under the constitution began to show itself in the debates upon Hamilton's financial measures as secretary of the treasury, and in this division we see Madison acting as leader of the opposition. By many writers this has been regarded as indicating a radical change of attitude on his part, and sundry explanations have been offered to account for the presumed inconsistency. He has been supposed to have succumbed to the personal influence of Jefferson, and to have yielded his own convictions to the desires and prejudices of his constituents. Such explanations are hardly borne out by what we know of Mr. Madison's career up to this point; and, moreover, they are uncalled for. If we consider carefully the circumstances of the time, the presumed inconsistency in his conduct disappears. The new Republican party, of which he soon became one of the leaders, was something quite different in its attitude from the anti-Federalist party of 1787-'90. There was ample room in it for men who in these critical years had been stanch Federalists, and as time passed this came to be more and more the case, until after a quarter of a century the entire Federalist party, with the exception of a few inflexible men in New England, had been absorbed by the Republican party. In 1790, since the Federal constitution had been actually adopted, and was going into operation, and since the extent of power that it granted to the general government must be gradually tested by the discussion of specific measures, it followed that the only natural and healthful division of parties must be the division between strict and loose constructionists. It was to be expected that anti-Federalists would become strict constructionists, and so most of them did, though examples were not wanting of such men swinging to the opposite extreme of politics, and advocating an extension of the powers of the Federal government. But there was no reason in the world why a Federalist of 1787-'90 must thereafter, in order to preserve his consistency, become a loose constructionist. It was entirely consistent for a statesman to advocate the adoption of the constitution, while convinced that the powers specifically granted therein to the general government were ample, and that great care should be taken not to add indefinitely to such powers through rash and loose methods of interpretation. Not only is such an attitude perfectly reasonable in itself, but it is, in particular, the one that a principal author of the constitution would have been very likely to take; and no doubt it was just this attitude that Mr. Madison took in the early sessions of congress. The occasions on which he assumed it were, moreover, eminently proper, and afford an admirable illustration of the difference in temper and mental habit between himself and Hamilton. The latter had always more faith in the heroic treatment of political questions than Madison. The restoration of American credit in 1790 was a task that demanded heroic measures, and it was fortunate that we had such a man as Hamilton to undertake it. But undoubtedly the assumption of state debts by the Federal government, however admirably it met the emergency of the moment, was such a measure as might easily create a dangerous precedent, and there was certainly nothing strange or inconsistent in Madison's opposition to it. A similar explanation will cover his opposition to Hamilton's national bank; and indeed, with the considerations here given as a clew, there is little or nothing in Mr. Madison's career in congress that is not thoroughly intelligible. At the time, however, the Federalists, disappointed at losing a man of so much power, misunderstood his acts and misrepresented his motives, and the old friendship between him and Hamilton gave way to mutual distrust and dislike. Mr. Madison sympathized with the French revolutionists, though he did not go so far in this direction as Jefferson. In the debates upon Jay's treaty with Great Britain he led the opposition, and supported the resolution asking President Washington to submit to the house of representatives copies of the papers relating to the negotiation. The resolution was passed, but Washington refused on the ground that the making of treaties was intrusted by the constitution to the president and the senate, and that the lower house was not entitled to meddle with their work.

At the close of Washington's second administration Mr. Madison retired for a brief season from public life. During this difficult period the country had been fortunate in having, as leader of the opposition in congress, a man so wise in counsel, so temperate in spirit, and so courteous in demeanor. Whatever else might be said of Madison's conduct in opposition, it could never be called factious; it was calm, generous, and disinterested. About two years before the close of his career in congress he married Mrs. Dolly Payne Todd, a beautiful widow, much younger than himself; and about this time he seems to have built the house at Montpelier which was to be his home during his later years. But retirement from public life, in any real sense of the phrase, was not yet possible for such a man. The wrath of the French government over Jay's treaty led to depredations upon American shipping, to the sending of commissioners to Paris, and to the blackmailing attempts of Talleyrand, as shown up in the X. Y. Z. despatches. (See ADAMS, JOHN.) In the fierce outburst of indignation that in America greeted these disclosures, in the sudden desire for war with France, which went so far as to vent itself in actual fighting on the sea, though war was never declared, the Federalist party believed itself to be so strong that it proceeded at once to make one of the greatest blunders ever made by a political party, in passing the alien and sedition acts. This high-handed legislation caused a sudden revulsion of feeling in favor of the Republicans, and called forth vigorous remonstrance. Party feeling has, perhaps, never in this country been so bitter, except just before the civil war. A series of resolutions, drawn up by Mr. Madison, was adopted in 1798 by the legislature of Virginia, while a similar series, still more pronounced, drawn up by Mr. Jefferson, was adopted in the same year by the legislature of Kentucky. The Virginia resolutions asserted with truth that, in adopting the Federal constitution, the states had surrendered only a limited portion of their powers; and went on to declare that, whenever the Federal government should exceed its constitutional authority, it was the business of the state governments to interfere and pronounce such action unconstitutional. Accordingly, Virginia declared the alien and sedition laws unconstitutional, and invited the other states to join in the declaration. Not meeting with a favorable response, Virginia renewed these resolutions the next year. There was nothing necessarily seditious, or tending toward secession, in the Virginia resolutions; but the attitude assumed in them was uncalled for on the part of any state, inasmuch as there existed, in the Federal supreme court, a tribunal competent to decide upon the constitutionality of acts of congress. The Kentucky resolutions went further. They declared that our Federal constitution was a compact, to which the several states were the one party and the Federal government was the other, and each party must decide for itself as to when the compact was infringed, and as to the proper remedy to be adopted. When the resolutions were repeated in 1799, a clause was added, which went still further and mentioned “nullification” as the suitable remedy, and one that any state might employ. In the Virginia resolutions there was neither mention nor intention of nullification as a remedy. Mr. Madison lived to witness South Carolina's attempt at nullification in 1832, and in a very able paper, written in the last year of his life, he conclusively refuted the idea that his resolutions of 1798 afforded any justification for such an attempt, and showed that what they really contemplated was a protest on the part of all the state governments in common. Doubtless such a remedy was clumsy and impracticable, and the suggestion of it does not deserve to be ranked along with Mr. Madison's best work in constructive statesmanship; but it certainly contained no logical basis for what its author unsparingly denounced as the “twin heresies” of nullification and secession.

In 1799 Mr. Madison was again elected a member of the Virginia assembly, and in 1801, at Mr. Jefferson's urgent desire, he became secretary of state. In accepting this appointment he entered upon a new career, in many respects different from that which he had hitherto followed. His work as a constructive statesman, which was so great as to place him in the foremost rank among the men that have built up nations, was by this time substantially completed. During the next few years the constitutional questions that had hitherto occupied him played a part subordinate to that played by questions of foreign policy, and in this new sphere Mr. Madison was not, by nature or training, fitted to exercise such a controlling influence as he had formerly brought to bear in the framing of our Federal government. As secretary of state, he was an able lieutenant to Mr. Jefferson, but his genius was not that of an executive officer so much as that of a law-giver. He brought his great historical and legal learning to bear in a paper entitled “An Examination of the British Doctrine which subjects to Capture a Neutral Trade not open in the Time of Peace.” But the troubled period that followed the rupture of the treaty of Amiens was not one in which legal arguments, however masterly, counted for much in bringing angry and insolent combatants to terms. In the gigantic struggle between England and Napoleon the commerce of the United States was ground to pieces as between the upper and the nether millstone, and in some respects there is no chapter in American history more painful for an American citizen to read. The outrageous affair of the “Leopard” and the “Chesapeake” was but the most flagrant of a series of wrongs and insults, against which Jefferson's embargo was doubtless an absurd and feeble protest, but perhaps at the same time pardonable as the only weapon left us in that period of national weakness.

Affairs were drawing slowly toward some kind of crisis when, at the expiration of Jefferson's second term, Mr. Madison was elected president of the United States by 122 electoral votes against 47 for Cotesworth Pinckney, and 6 for George Clinton, who received 113 votes for the vice-presidency, and was elected to that office. The opposition of the New England states to the embargo had by this time brought about its repeal, and the substitution for it of the act declaring non-intercourse with England and France. By this time many of the most intelligent Federalists, including John Quincy Adams, had gone over to the Republicans. In 1810 congress repealed the non-intercourse act, which, as a measure of intimidation, had proved ineffectual. Congress now sought to use the threat of non-intercourse as a kind of bribe, and informed England and France that if either nation would repeal its obnoxious edicts, the non-intercourse act would be revived against the other. Napoleon took prompt advantage of this, and informed Mr. Madison's government that he had revoked his Berlin and Milan decrees as far as American ships were concerned; but at the same time he gave secret orders by which the decrees were to be practically enforced as harshly as ever. The lie served its purpose, and congress revived the non-intercourse act as against Great Britain alone. In 1811 hostilities began on sea and land, in the affair of Tippecanoe and of the “President” and “Little Belt.” The growing desire for war was shown in the choice of Henry Clay for speaker of the house of representatives, and Mr. Madison was nominated for a second term, on condition of adopting the war policy. On 18 June, 1812, war was declared, and before the autumn election a series of remarkable naval victories had made it popular. Mr. Madison was re-elected by 128 electoral votes against 89 for. De Witt Clinton, of New York. The one absorbing event, which filled the greater part of his second term, was the war with Great Britain, which was marked by some brilliant victories and some grave disasters, including the capture of Washington by British troops, and the flight of the government from the national capital. Whatever opinion may be held as to the character of the war and its results, there is a general agreement that its management, on the part of the United States, was feeble. Mr. Madison was essentially a man of peace, and as the manager of a great war he was conspicuously out of his element. The history of that war plays a great part in the biographies of the military and naval heroes that figured in it; it is a cardinal event in the career of Andrew Jackson or Isaac Hull. In the biography of Madison it is an episode which may be passed over briefly. The greatest part of his career was finished before he held the highest offices; his renown will rest chiefly or entirely upon what he did before the beginning of the 19th century.

After the close of his second term in 1817 Mr. Madison retired to his estate at Montpelier, where he spent nearly twenty happy years with books and friends. This sweet and tranquil old age he had well earned by services to his fellow-creatures such as it is given to but few men to render. Among the founders of our nation, his place is beside that of Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, and Marshall; but his part was peculiar. He was preeminently the scholar, the profound, constructive thinker, and his limitations were such as belong to that character. He was modest, quiet, and reserved in manner, small in stature, neat and refined, courteous and amiable. In rough party strife there were many who could for the moment outshine him. He was not the sort of hero for whom people throw up their caps and shout themselves hoarse, like Andrew Jackson, for example. But his work was of a kind that will be powerful for good in the world long after the work of the men of Jackson's type shall have been forgotten. The portrait on steel is from a painting by Gilbert Stuart, and the vignette is copied from a drawing by Longacre made at Montpelier in July, 1833, when Mr. Madison was in his eighty-third year. The view on page 169 represents his residence.

A satisfactory biography of Madison and a complete edition of his writings are things still to be desired. His interesting account of the Federal convention is published in Eliot's “Debates.” See also the “Madison Papers” (3 vols., Washington, 1840). For biographies there is the cumbrous work of William C. Rives (3 vols., Boston, 1859-'68) and the sketch by Sydney Howard Gay in the “American Statesmen” series (Boston, 1884). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Maffitt, John Newland, 1795-1850, Boston, Massachusetts, Methodist clergyman.  Strong supporter and advocate for colonization and the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 172; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 134)

MAFFITT, John Newland, clergyman, b. in Dublin, Ireland, 28 Dec., 1795; d. near Mobile, Ala., 28 May, 1850. He was destined for mercantile life by his parents, who belonged to the Established church; but embracing the Wesleyan doctrines in 1813, he determined to become a minister, and, meeting with opposition at home, emigrated to the United States in 1819, and in 1822 entered the New England conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. After preaching for twelve years as an itinerant in various cities of the eastern states, he became a local preacher in New York city in 1832, and thereafter travelled, preached, and lectured at his own discretion. In 1833, in conjunction with Rev. Lewis Garrett, he established in Nashville, Tenn., the “Western Methodist,” which was subsequently transformed into the “Christian Advocate,” and adopted as the central organ of the Methodist Episcopal church, south. Great numbers assembled to listen to his sermons in the south and southwest, and many converts were added to the church. He was agent for La Grange college, Ala., in 1836-'7, and was subsequently for a short time professor of elocution and belles-lettres in that institution, but resided chiefly in the Atlantic cities. In 1841 he was chaplain to the National house of representatives. In 1845-'6 he edited a literary and religious monthly, called the “Calvary Token,” that he had established at Auburn, N. Y. In 1847, on the occasion of a second marriage, charges were brought against his moral character, in consequence of which he removed from New York to Arkansas. He preached in various cities, but his popularity was affected and his mind troubled by the suspicions he had incurred, and his power as a pulpit orator was gone. Mr. Maffitt was the author of “Tears of Contrition,” a recountal of his religious experiences (1821); “Pulpit Sketches” (Boston, 1828); and a volume of “Poems” (1839). He left an “Oratorical Dictionary” and an “Autobiography.”  Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Mann, Horace, 1796-1859, Boston, Massachusetts, educator, political leader, social reformer.  U.S. Congressman, Whig Party, from Massachusetts.  Co-founder of the Young Men’s Colonization Society in Boston.  Co-founded monthly paper, The Colonizationist and Journal of Freedom.  He defended the American Colonization Society and its policies against criticism by William Lloyd Garrison.  Opposed extension of slavery in territories annexed in the Mexican War of 1846.  Said, “I consider no evil as great as slavery...”  Argued against the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.  Reelected to Congress and served from April 1848 until March 1853.  (Mabee, 1970, pp. 64, 157, 160, 168, 170, 171, 261, 294, 409n9; Appletons’, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 190-191; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 2, p. 240; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 14, p. 424; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 204)

MANN, Horace, educator, b. in Franklin, Mass., 4 May, 1796; d. in Yellow Springs, Ohio, 2 Aug., 1859. His father was a farmer in limited circumstances, and the son was forced to procure by his own exertions the means of obtaining an education. He earned his school-books when a child by braiding straw, and his severe and frugal life taught him habits of self-reliance and independence. From ten years of age to twenty he had never more than six weeks’ schooling during any year, and he describes his instructors as “very good people, but very poor teachers.” He was graduated at Brown in 1819, and the theme of his oration, “The Progressive Character of the Human Race,” foreshadowed his subsequent career. After his graduation he was tutor in Latin and Greek in Brown, entered the Litchfield , Conn., law-school in 1821, and in 1823 was admitted to the bar, opening an office in Dedham, Mass. He was elected to the legislature in 1827, and in that body was active in the interests of education, public charities, and laws for the suppression of intemperance and lotteries. He established through his personal exertions the State lunatic asylum at Worcester, and in 1833 was chairman of its board of trustees. He continued to be returned to the legislature as representative from Dedham till his removal to Boston in 1833, when he entered into partnership with Edward G. Loring. In the practice of his profession he adopted the principle never to take the unjust side of any cause, and he is said to have gained four fifths of the cases in which he was engaged, the influence that he exerted over the juries being due in a great measure to the confidence that all felt in his honesty of purpose. He was elected to the state senate from Boston in 1833, was its president in 1836-'7, and from the latter year till 1848 was secretary of the Massachusetts board of education. While in the legislature he was a member and part of the time chairman of the committee for the revision of the state statutes, and a large number of salutary provisions were incorporated into the code at his suggestion. After their enactment he was appointed one of the editors of the work, and prepared its marginal notes and its references to judicial decisions. On entering on his duties as secretary to the Massachusetts board of education he withdrew from all other professional or business engagements and from politics. He introduced a thorough reform into the school system of the state, procuring the adoption of extensive changes in the school law, establishing normal schools, and instituting county educational conventions. He ascertained the actual condition of each school by “school registers,” and from the detailed reports of the school committees made valuable abstracts that he embodied in his annual reports. Under the auspices of the board, but at his own expense, he went to Europe in 1843 to visit schools, especially in Germany, and his seventh annual report, published after his return, embodied the results of his tour. Many editions of this report were printed, not only in Massachusetts, but in other states, in some cases by private individuals and in others by legislatures, and several editions were issued in England. By his advocacy of the disuse of corporal punishment in school discipline he was involved in a controversy with some of the Boston teachers that resulted in the adoption of his views. By his lectures and writings he awakened an interest in the cause of education that had never before been felt. He gave his legal opinions gratuitously, superintended the erection of a few buildings, and drew plans for many others. In his “Supplementary Report” (1848) he said: “From the time I accepted the secretaryship in June, 1837, until May, 1 848, when I tendered my resignation of it, I labored in this cause an average of not less than fifteen hours a day; from the beginning to the end of this period I never took a single day for relaxation, and months and months together passed without my withdrawing a single evening to call upon a friend.” In, the spring of 1848 he was elected to congress as a Whig, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John Quincy Adams. His first speech in that body was in advocacy of its right and duty to exclude slavery from the territories, and in a letter in December of that year he said: “I think the country is to experience serious times. Interference with slavery will excite civil commotion in the south. But it is best to interfere. Now is the time to see whether the Union is a rope of sand or a band of steel.” Again he said: “I consider no evil as great as slavery, and I would pass the Wilmot proviso whether the south rebel or not.” During the first session he volunteered as counsel for Drayton and Sayres, who were indicted for stealing seventy-six slaves in the District of Columbia, and at the trial was engaged for twenty-one successive days in their defence. In 1850 he was engaged in a controversy with Daniel Webster in regard to the extension of slavery and the fugitive-slave law. Mann was defeated by a single vote at the ensuing nominating convention by Mr. Webster's supporters; but, on appealing to the people as an independent anti-slavery candidate, he was re-elected, serving from April, 1848, till March, 1853. In September, 1852, he was nominated for governor of Massachusetts by the Free-soil party, and the same day was chosen president of Antioch college, Yellow Springs, Ohio. Failing in the election for governor, he accepted the presidency of the college, in which he continued until his death. He carried that institution through pecuniary and other difficulties, and satisfied himself of the practicality of co-education. His death was hastened by his untiring labors in his office. He published, besides his annual reports, his lectures on education, and his voluminous controversial writings, “A Few Thoughts for a Young Man” (Boston, 1850); “Slavery: Letters and Speeches” (1851); “Powers and Duties of Woman” (1853); and “Sermons” (1861). See “Life of Horace Mann,” by his wife (1865); “Life and Complete Works of Horace Mann” (2 vols., Cambridge, 1869); and “Thoughts selected from the Writings of Horace Mann” (1869). His lectures on education were translated into French by Eugène de Guer, under the title of “De l'importance de l'éducation dans une république,” with a preface and biographical sketch by Edouard R. L. Laboulaye (Paris, 1873).  Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 190-191.

Marcy, William Learned, 1786-1857, New York, statesman.  American Colonization Society, Vice-President, 1837-1840.  U.S. Senator and Governor of New York.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. p. 203; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 2, p. 274)

MARCY, William Learned, statesman, b. in Southbridge, Mass., 12 Dec., 1786; d. in Ballston Spa., N. Y., 4 July, 1857. He was graduated at Brown in 1808, and then studied law in Troy, N. Y., where, after being admitted to the bar, he opened an office. The war with Great Britain soon began, and young Marcy, holding a lieutenancy in a light-infantry company, tendered the services of his command to the governor of New York. This offer was accepted, and the company was sent to French Mills, on the northern frontier. On the night of 23 Oct., 1812, he surprised and captured the Canadian forces that were stationed at St. Regis. These were the first prisoners taken on land, and their flag was the first captured during the war. This exploit gained for him recognition from Gen. Henry Dearborn, and his command was attached to the main army, but, after serving the time for which he had enlisted, he returned to his practice, having attained the rank of captain. In 1816 he was appointed recorder of Troy, but his opposition to De Witt Clinton led to his removal from office, and remains as one of the earliest cases of political proscription in the history of New York. He then became editor of the “Troy Budget,” a daily newspaper, which he soon made a well-known organ of the Democratic party. The earnest support that he gave to Martin Van Buren resulted in his affiliation with the division of the Democratic party of which Van Buren was leader, and in 1821 he was made adjutant-general of the state militia. He was a member of the “Albany regency.” (See CAGGER, PETER.) His political capabilities showed themselves to advantage in the passage of the act that authorized a convention to revise the constitution. He became in 1823 comptroller of the state, an important office at that time, owing to the large expenditures on the Erie and Champlain canals, and the increase of the state debt. In 1829 he was appointed one of the associate justices of the supreme court of New York, and in that capacity presided over numerous important trials, among which was that of the alleged murderers of William Morgan (q. v.). He continued on the bench until 1831, when he was elected as a Democrat to the U. S. senate, serving from 5 Dec., 1831, and becoming chairman of the judiciary committee. His maiden speech was in answed to Henry Clay's aspersions on Martin Van Buren, and was followed soon afterward by his answer to Daniel Webster's speech on the apportionment. His career as a senator gained for him a strong hold on the confidence of the people of his state and elsewhere. He resigned in 1833 to fill the governorship of New York, to which he had been elected, and held that office through three terms, until 1839. For a fourth time he was nominated, but he was defeated by William H. Seward. In 1839 he was appointed by Martin Van Buren one of the commissioners to decide upon the claims against the government of Mexico, under the convention of that year, and was so occupied until 1842. He presided over the Democratic state convention at Syracuse in September, 1843, and during the subsequent canvass he used his influence in causing the state of New York to cast its votes for James K. Polk, by whom, after his election, he was invited to become secretary of war. The duties of that office were performed by him with signal ability, especially during the Mexican war. The difficulties of his task were somewhat increased by the fact that the two victorious generals, Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor, were of the opposing political party, and charged Mr. Marcy with using his official power to embarrass and retard their military operations. These accusations were made so persistently and openly that it became necessary for him to defend him self against such attacks, which he did with so much force that he completely silenced all censure. During his term of office he exerted his diplomatic powers to advantage in the settlement of the Oregon boundary question, also advocating the tariff of 1846, and opposing all interference on the slavery question. At the close of his term of office he retired to private life, but in 1853 he returned to Washington as secretary of state under Franklin Pierce. While in this office he carried on a correspondence with the Austrian authorities in reference to the release of Martin Koszta by Capt. Duncan N. Ingraham (q. v.). The questions that were involved were in a measure new, and affected all governments that recognized the laws of nations. His state papers on Central American affairs, on the enlistment question, on the Danish sound dues, and on many other topics of national interest, still further exhibited his ability as a writer, statesman, and diplomatist. On the close of Pierce's administration, he again retired to private life, and four months afterward he was found dead one evening in his library with an open volume before him. Mr. Marcy had the reputation of being a shrewd political tactician, and probably has never been surpassed in this respect by any one in New York except Martin Van Buren. He was regarded among his countrymen of all parties as a statesman of the highest order of administrative and diplomatic ability. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Marsh, Charles, 1765-1849, Vermont, attorney, U.S. Congressman.  Life member, original charter member, and supporter of the American Colonization Society (ACS).  Officer, Vermont auxiliary of the ACS.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 216; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 70, 76)

MARSH, Charles, lawyer, b. in Lebanon, Conn., 10 July, 1765; d. in Woodstock, Vt., 11 Jan., 1849. He settled with his parents in Vermont before the Revolutionary war, and was graduated at Dartmouth in 1786. After studying law he was admitted to the bar and practised at Woodstock, Vt., for about fifty years, becoming the senior member of the profession in Vermont. In 1797 he was appointed by President Washington to the office of district attorney of his state, and later was elected as a Federalist to congress, serving from 4 Dec., 1815, to 3 March, 1817. While in Washington he was a founder of the American colonization society, and he was a liberal benefactor of various missionary and Bible societies. He was prominent in the Dartmouth college controversy, a trustee in 1809-'49, and received the degree of LL. D. from that college in 1828. Mr. Marsh was president of the Vermont Bible society and vice-president of the American Bible society and of the American education society. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Marshall, John, 1755-1835, Virginia, jurist, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.  American Colonization Society (ACS), Vice-President, 1833-1836.  Life member of the ACS.  President of county auxiliaries in Virginia.  Donated funds to ACS.  Supported colonization movement.  Marshall believed that colonization would help the country and prevent “a danger [slavery] whose extent can scarcely be estimated.”  He counseled freedmen to go to Liberia.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 70, 107, 108, 118, 180, 224; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 222-225; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 2, p. 315)

Marshall, John, jurist, b. in Germantown, Fauquier co., Va., 24 Sept., 1755; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 6 July, 1835, received from childhood a thorough course of domestic education in English literature, and when he was sufficiently advanced his father procured the services of a private teacher, Rev. James Thompson, an Episcopal clergyman from Scotland, who was afterward minister of Leeds parish. At fourteen years of age John was sent to Westmoreland county, and placed at the school where his father and Washington had been pupils. James Monroe was one of his fellow-students. After remaining there for a year he returned to Oak Hill and continued his classical studies under the direction of Mr. Thompson, but he never had the benefit of a college education. He began the study of law at the age of eighteen, and used Blackstone's “Commentaries,” then recently published, but he had hardly begun his legal studies when the controversy with the mother country came to a crisis. The tea bill, the Boston port bill, the congress of 1774, followed one another in quick succession, and every question at issue was thoroughly discussed at Oak Hill just at the period of young Marshall's life to make the most indelible impression upon his intellectual and moral character. Military preparations were not neglected. John Marshall joined an independent body of volunteers and devoted himself with much zeal to the training of a company of militia in his neighborhood. Among the first to take the field was Thomas Marshall. A regiment of minutemen was raised in the summer of 1775 in Culpeper, Orange, and Fauquier counties, of which be was appointed major, and his son John a lieutenant. On their green hunting-shirts they bore the motto “Liberty or death!” and on their banner was the emblem of a coiled rattlesnake, with the inscription “Don't tread on me!” They were armed with rifles, knives, and tomahawks. They had an engagement with Gov. Dunmore's forces at Great Bridge on 9 Dec., in which Lieut. Marshall showed coolness and skill in handling his men. After this, in 1776, the father and son were in separate organizations. Thomas Marshall was appointed colonel in the 3d Virginia infantry of the Continental line, and John's company was reorganized and attached to the 11th regiment of Virginia troops, which was sent to join Washington's army in New Jersey. Both were in most of the principal battles of the war until the end of 1779. John was promoted to a captaincy in May, 1779. His company distinguished itself at the battle of the Brandywine. He was engaged in the pursuit of the British and the subsequent retreat at Germantown, was with the army in winter-quarters at Valley Forge, and took part in the actions at Monmouth, Stony Point, and Paulus Hook. His marked good sense and discretion and his general popularity often led to his being selected to settle disputes between his brother officers, and he was frequently employed to act as deputy judge-advocate. This brought him into extensive acquaintance with the officers, and into personal intercourse with Gen. Washington and Col. Alexander Hamilton, an acquaintance that subsequently ripened into sincere regard and attachment. The term of enlistment of his regiment having expired, Capt. Marshall, with other supernumerary officers, was ordered to Virginia to take charge of any new troops that might be raised by the state, and while he was detained in Richmond during the winter of 1779-'80, awaiting the action of the legislature, he availed himself of the opportunity to attend the law lectures of George Wythe, of William and Mary college, and those of Prof. (afterward Bishop) Madison on natural philosophy. In the summer of 1780 Marshall received a license to practise law, but, on the invasion of Virginia by Gen. Alexander Leslie in October, he joined the army again under Baron Steuben, and remained in the service until Arnold, after his raid on James river, had retired to Portsmouth. This was in January, 1781. He then resigned his commission, and studied law.

He had spent nearly six years in arduous military service, exposed to the dangers, enduring the hardships, and partaking the anxieties of that trying period. The discipline of those six years could not have failed to strengthen the manliness of his character and greatly enlarge his knowledge of the chief men, or those who became such, from every part of the country, and of their social and political principles. Though it was a rough and severe school, it was instructive, and produced a maturity and self-dependence that could not have been acquired by a much longer experience under different circumstances. As soon as the courts were re-opened young Marshall began practice, and quickly rose to high distinction at the bar. In the spring of 1782 he was elected to the house of burgesses, and in the autumn a member of the state executive council. On 3 Jan., 1783, he married Mary Willis Ambler, daughter of the state treasurer, with whom he lived for nearly fifty years, and about the same time he took up his permanent residence in Richmond. In the spring of 1784 he resigned his seat at the council board in order to devote himself more exclusively to his profession, but he was immediately returned to the legislature by Fauquier county, though he retained only a nominal residence there. In 1787 he was elected to represent Henrico, which includes the city of Richmond. He was a decided advocate of the new U. S. constitution, and in 1788 was elected to the state convention that was called to consider its ratification. His own constituents were opposed to its provisions, but chose him in spite of his refusal to pledge himself to vote against its adoption. In this body he spoke only on important questions, such as the direct power of taxation, the control of the militia, and the judicial power—the most important features of the proposed government, the absence of which in the Confederation was the principal cause of its failure. On these occasions he generally answered Patrick Henry, the most powerful opponent of the constitution, and he spoke with such force of argument and breadth of views as greatly to affect the final result, which was a majority in favor of ratification. The acceptance of the constitution by Virginia was entirely due to the arguments of Marshall and James Madison in the convention which recorded eighty-nine votes for its adoption against seventy-nine contrary voices. When the constitution went into effect, Marshall acted with the party that desired to give it fair scope and to see it fully carried out. His great powers were frequently called into requisition in support of the Federal cause, and in defence of the measures of Washington's administration. His practice, in the mean time, became extended and lucrative. He was employed in nearly every important cause that came up in the state and United States courts in Virginia. In addition to these labors, he served in the legislature for the two terms that followed the ratification of the constitution, contemporary with the sittings of the first congress under it, when those important measures were adopted by which the government was organized and its system of finance was established, all of which were earnestly discussed in the house of burgesses. He also served in the legislatures of 1795 and 1796, when the controversies that arose upon Jay's treaty and the French revolution were exciting the country. At this post he was the constant and powerful advocate of Washington's administration and the measures of the government. The treaty was assailed as unconstitutionally interfering with the power of congress to regulate commerce; but Marshall, in a speech of remarkable power, demonstrated the utter fallacy of this argument, and it was finally abandoned by the opponents of the treaty, who carried a resolution simply declaring the treaty to be inexpedient.

In August, 1795, Washington offered him the place of attorney-general, which had been made vacant by the death of William Bradford, but he felt obliged to decline it. In February, 1796, he attended the supreme court at Philadelphia to argue the great case of the British debts, Ware vs. Hylton, and while he was there received unusual attention from the leaders of the Federalist party in congress. He was now, at forty-one years of age, undoubtedly at the head of the Virginia bar; and in the branches of international and public law, which, from the character of his cases and his own inclination, he had profoundly studied, he probably had no superior, if he had an equal, in the country. In the summer of 1796 Washington tendered him the place of envoy to France to succeed James Monroe, but he declined it, and Gen. Charles C. Pinckney was appointed. As the French Directory refused to receive Mr. Pinckney, and ordered him to leave the country, no other representative was sent to France until John Adams became president. In June, 1797, Mr. Adams appointed Messrs. Pinckney, Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry as joint envoys. Marshall's appointment was received with great demonstrations of satisfaction at Richmond, and on setting out for Philadelphia he was escorted several miles out of the city by a body of light horse, and his departure was signalized by the discharge of cannon. The new envoys were as unsuccessful in establishing diplomatic relations with the French republic as Gen. Pinckney had been. They arrived at Paris in October, 1797, and communicated with Talleyrand, the minister for foreign affairs, but were cajoled and trifled with. Secret agents of the minister approached them with a demand for money—50,000 pounds sterling for private account, and a loan to the government. Repelling these shameful suggestions with indignation, the envoys sent Talleyrand an elaborate paper, prepared by Marshall, which set forth with great precision and force of argument the views and requirements of the United States, and their earnest desire for maintaining friendly relations with France. But it availed nothing. Pinckney and Marshall, who were Federalists, were ordered to leave the territories of the republic, while Gerry, as a Republican, was allowed to remain. The news of these events was received in this country with the deepest indignation. “History will scarcely furnish the example of a nation, not absolutely degraded, which has experienced from a foreign power such open contumely and undisguised insult as were on this occasion suffered by the United States, in the persons of their ministers,” wrote Marshall afterward in his “Life of Washington.”

Marshall returned to the United States in June, 1798, and was everywhere received with demonstrations of the highest respect and approval. At a public dinner given to him in Philadelphia, one of the toasts was “Millions for defence; not a cent for tribute,” which sentiment was echoed and re-echoed throughout the country. Patrick Henry wrote to a friend: “Tell Marshall I love him because he felt and acted as a republican, as an American.” In August Mr. Adams offered him a seat on the supreme bench, which had been made vacant by the death of Judge James Wilson, but he declined it, and his friend, Bushrod Washington, was appointed. In his letter to the secretary of state, declaring his intention to nominate Marshall, President Adams said: “Of the three envoys the conduct of Marshall alone has been entirely satisfactory, and ought to be marked by the most decided approbation of the public. He has raised the American people in their own esteem, and if the influence of truth and justice, reason and argument, is not lost in Europe, he has raised the consideration of the United States in that quarter of the world.” As the elections approached, Mr. Marshall was strongly urged to become a candidate for congress, consented much against his inclination, was elected in April, 1799, and served a single session. One of the most determined assaults that was made against the administration at this session was in relation to the case of Jonathan Robbins, alias Thomas Nash, who had been arrested in Charleston at the instance of the British consul, on the charge of mutiny and murder on the British frigate “Hermione,” and who, upon habeas corpus, was delivered up to the British authorities by Judge Thomas Bee, in pursuance of the requisition of the British minister upon the president, and of a letter from the secretary of state to Judge Bee advising and requesting the delivery. Resolutions censuring the president and Judge Bee were offered in the house; but Marshall, in a most elaborate and powerful speech, triumphantly refuted all the charges and assumptions of law on which the resolutions were based, and they were lost by a decided vote. This speech settled the principles that have since guided the government and the courts of the United States in extradition cases, and is still regarded as an authoritative exposition of international law on the subject of which it treats. The session lasted till 14 May, but on the 7th Marshall was nominated as secretary of war in place of James McHenry, who had resigned; and before confirmation, on the 12th, he was nominated and appointed secretary of state in place of Timothy Pickering, who had been removed. He filled this office with ability and credit during the remainder of Adams's administration. His state papers are luminous and unanswerable, especially his instructions to Rufus King, minister to Great Britain, in relation to the right of search, and other difficulties with that country.

Chief-Justice Ellsworth having resigned his seat on the bench in November, 1800, the president, after offering the place to John Jay, who declined it, conferred the appointment on Mr. Marshall. The tradition is, that after the president had had the matter under consideration for some time, Mr. Marshall (or Gen. Marshall, as he was then called) happened one day to suggest a new name for the place, when Mr. Adams promptly said: “General Marshall, you need not give yourself any further trouble about that matter. I have made up my mind about it.” “I am happy to hear that you are relieved on the subject,” said Marshall. “May I ask whom you have fixed upon?” “Certainly,” said the president; “I have concluded to nominate a person whom it may surprise you to hear mentioned. It is a Virginia lawyer, a plain man by the name of John Marshall.” He was nominated on 20 Jan., unanimously confirmed, and presided in the court at the February term, though he was still holding the office of secretary of state. He at once took, and always maintained, a commanding position in the court, not only as its nominal but as its real head. The most important opinions, especially those on constitutional law, were pronounced by him. The thirty volumes of reports, from 1st Cranch to 9th Peters, covering a period of thirty-five years, contain the monuments of his great judicial power and learning, which are referred to as the standard authority on constitutional questions. They have imparted life and vigor not only to the constitution, but to the national body politic. It is not too much to say that for this office no other man could have been selected who was equally fitted for the task he had before him. To specify and characterize the great opinions that he delivered would be to write a treatise on American constitutional law. They must themselves stand as the monuments and proper records of his judicial history. It is reported by one of his descendants that he often said that if he was worthy of remembrance his best biography would be found in his decisions in the supreme court. Their most striking characteristics are crystalline clearness of thought, irrefragable logic, and a wide and statesman-like view of all questions of public consequence. In these respects he has had no superior in this or any other country. Some men seem to be constituted by nature to be masters of judicial analysis and insight. Such were Papinian, Sir Matthew Hale, and Lord Mansfield, each in his particular province. Such was Marshall in his. They seemed to handle judicial questions as the great Euler did mathematical ones, with giant ease. As an instance of the simplicity with which he sometimes treated great questions may be cited his reasoning on the power of the court to decide upon the constitutionality of acts of congress. It had been claimed before; but it was Marshall's iron logic that settled it beyond controversy. “It is a proposition too plain to be contested,” said he, in Marbury vs. Madison, “that the constitution controls any legislative act repugnant to it; or that the legislature may alter the constitution by an ordinary act. Between these alternatives there is no middle ground. The constitution is either a superior, paramount law, unchangeable by ordinary means, or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts, and, like other acts, is alterable when the legislature shall please to alter it. If the former part of the alternative be true, then a 1egislative act contrary to the constitution is not law; if the latter part be true, then written constitutions are absurd attempts, on the part of the people, to limit a power in its own nature illimitable.”

The incidents of Marshall's life, aside from his judicial work, after he went upon the bench, are few. In 1807 he presided, with Judge Cyrus Griffin, at the great state trial of Aaron Burr, who was charged with treason and misdemeanor. Few public trials have excited greater interest than this. President Jefferson and his adherents desired Burr's conviction, but Marshall preserved the most rigid impartiality and exact justice throughout the trial, acquitting himself, as always, to the public satisfaction. In 1829 he was elected a delegate to the convention for revising the state constitution of Virginia, where he again met Madison and Monroe, who were also members, but much enfeebled by age. The chief justice did not speak often, but when he did speak, though he was seventy-four years of age, his mind was as clear and his reasoning as solid as in younger days. His deepest interest was excited in reference to the independence of the judiciary. He remained six years after this on the bench of the supreme court. In the spring of 1835 he was advised to go to Philadelphia for medical advice, and did so, but without any beneficial result, and died in that city.

In private Chief-Justice Marshall was a man of unassuming piety and amiability of temper. He was tall, plain in dress, and somewhat awkward in appearance, but had a keen black eye, and overflowed with geniality and kind feeling. He was the object of the warmest love and veneration of all his children and grandchildren. Judge Marshall published, at the request of the first president's family, who placed their records and private papers at his disposal, a “Life of Washington” (5 vols., Philadelphia, 1804-'7), of which the first volume was afterward issued separately as “A History of the American Colonies” (1824). The whole was subsequently revised and condensed (2 vols., 1832). In this work he defended the policy of Washington's administration against the arguments and detractions of the Republicans. A selection from his decisions has been published, entitled “The Writings of John Marshall, late Chief Justice of the United States, upon the Federal Constitution” (Boston, 1839), under the supervision of Justice Joseph Story. His life has been written by George Van Santvoord, in his “Sketches of the Chief Justices” (New York, 1854); and by Henry Flanders, in his “Lives and Times of the Chief Justices” (2d series, Philadelphia, 1858). See also “Eulogy on the Life and Character of Marshall,” by Horace Binney (Philadelphia, 1835); “Discourse upon the Life, Character, and Services of John Marshall,” in Joseph Story's “Miscellaneous Writings” (Boston, 1852); “Chief-Justice Marshall and the Constitutional Law of his Time,” an address by Edward J. Phelps (1879); and “John Marshall,” by Allan B. Magruder (Boston, 1885). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Marshall, Thomas, Virginia, advocate of colonization.  Son of John Marshall.  Said that slavery is “ruinous to Whites—retards improvements—roots out industrious population…”  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 225; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 181)

Mason, John, General, Georgetown, DC, American Colonization Society, Vice-President, 1833-1840.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 30, 51)

Mason, Samson, Springfield, Ohio, Director, American Colonization Society, 1839-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Maxcy, Virgil, 1785-1844, Baltimore, Maryland, lawyer, state lawmaker, diplomat.  Original founding member of the American Colonization Society (ACS).  Protégé of ACS leader Robert G. Harper.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 267; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 2, p. 434; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 110-111, 258n14)

MAXEY, Virgil, lawyer, b. in Attleborough, Mass., about 1785; d. on Potomac river, 28 Feb., 1844, studied law with Robert Goodloe Harper, of Maryland, and settled in the practice of his profession in that state, where he soon became eminent as an advocate. He also took an interest in politics, was a member of the Maryland legislature, serving at different times in both houses, became solicitor to the U. S. treasury, and afterward was chargé d’affaires in Belgium from 1837 till 1842. He was one of the victims of the explosion of a heavy gun on board the steamer “Princeton” during a visit to the ship of President John Tyler and his party. (See TYLER.) Mr. Maxey's publications include a valuable “Compilation of the Laws of Maryland from 1692 to 1809” (4 vols., Annapolis, 1809), and an “Oration” before the Phi Beta Kappa society (1833).  Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Maxwell, William, 1784-1857, Norfolk, Virginia, author, lawyer, editor, educator, college president.  Vice-President, American Colonization Society (ACS), 1836-1841.  Vice President, Richmond, Virginia, auxiliary of the ACS.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 272; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 2, p. 445; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 107)

MAXWELL, William, author, b. in Norfolk, Va., 27 Feb., 1784; d. near Williamsburg, Va., 9 June, 1857. He was graduated at Yale in 1802, studied law in Richmond, Va., was admitted to the Norfolk bar in 1808, and attained to eminence as a Constitutional lawyer. He edited the literary department of the “New York Journal of Commerce” in 1827, served in the Virginia legislature in 1830, and in the state senate in 1832-'8, and from November of the latter year till 1844 was president of Hampden Sidney college, Va. He then removed to Richmond, was engaged in reviving the Virginia historical and philosophical society, and in 1848 established the “Virginia Historical Register,” of which he edited six volumes (1848-'53). He was a member of the Bible and colonization societies, active in the cause of education, and in 1828 erected at his own expense in Norfolk, Va., a lyceum for the diffusion of useful knowledge by means of lectures and scientific experiments. Hampden Sidney gave him the degree of LL. D. He published a “Memoir of Rev. John H. Rice” (Philadelphia, 1835). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

May, Samuel Joseph, Reverend, 1797-1871, Brooklyn, Connecticut, reformer, abolitionist leader, temperance advocate, clergyman, early advocate of women’s rights.  Unitarian minister.  Organized local auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  May was an advocate for immediate, uncompensated emancipation of slaves.  Vice president, 1848-1861, and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.  Agent of the New England Anti-Slavery Society, an officer of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.  May was opposed to both the annexation of Texas and the Mexican War.  He adamantly opposed both the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law and actively advocated resistance to it.  Active in Underground Railroad in Syracuse, New York.  In 1851, he helped rescue a fugitive slave, Jerry McHenry, from the federal government.  Early supporter of William Lloyd Garrison.  In 1856, he joined the anti-slavery Republican Party, supporting John Frémont for the presidency of the United States.  (Bruns, 1977, p. 456; Drake, 1950, p. 176; Dumond, 1961, pp. 182, 211-212, 273, 276; Filler, 1960, pp. 34, 44, 59, 65-66, 216; Mabee, 1970, pp. 12, 13, 20, 22-24, 26, 28, 29, 35, 37, 43-48, 78-79, 93, 124, 132, 149, 156, 168-170, 232, 272, 287, 289, 296, 300, 307, 308, 310, 359, 360, 368; Sernett, 2002, pp. 63, 102, 132, 134-144, 175, 176, 274-275, 312-313n39; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 273; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 2, p. 447; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985, pp. 585-586; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. II. New York: James T. White, 1892, p. 313; May, Samuel Joseph. Memoir of Samuel Joseph May. Boston, 1873; May, Samuel Joseph, Recollections of the Anti-Slavery Conflict. Boston, 1868; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 169.  Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 127)

MAY, Samuel Joseph, reformer, b. in Boston, Mass., 12 Sept., 1797; d. in Syracuse, N. Y., 1 July, 1871. He was graduated at Harvard in 1817, studied divinity at Cambridge, and in 1822 became pastor of a Unitarian church at Brooklyn, N. Y. He was early interested in the anti-slavery cause, wrote and preached on the subject, and in 1830 was mobbed and burned in effigy at Syracuse for advocating immediate emancipation. He was a member of the first New England anti-slavery society m 1832, and, when Prudence Crandall (q. v.) was proscribed and persecuted for admitting colored girls to her school in Canterbury, Conn., he was her ardent champion. He was also a member of the Philadelphia convention of 1833 that formed the American anti-slavery society, and signed the “Declaration of Sentiments,” of which William Lloyd Garrison was the author. In 1835 he became the general agent of the Massachusetts anti-slavery society, for which, by a union of gentleness and courage, he was peculiarly fitted, and in this capacity he lectured and travelled extensively. He was pastor of the Unitarian church at South Scituate, Mass., in 1836-'42, and became at the latter date, at the solicitation of Horace Mann, principal of the Girls' normal school at Lexington, Mass. He returned to the pulpit in 1845, and from that date till three years previous to his death was pastor of the Unitarian society in Syracuse, N.Y. Mr. May was active in all charitable and educational enterprises, and did much to increase the efficiency of the public-school system in Syracuse. He published “Education of the Faculties” (Boston, 1846); “Revival of Education” (Syracuse, N. Y., 1855); and “Recollections of the Anti-Slavery Conflict” (Boston, 1868). See “Memoir of Samuel Joseph May,” edited by George B. Emerson, Samuel May, and Thomas J. Mumford (Boston, 1873).  Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 273.

McClure, J. H., Kentucky, Vice-President, American Colonization Society, 1832-37.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

McDonogh, John, New Orleans, Louisiana, Vice-President, 1834-41.  (Burin, 2005, pp. 32, 41-42, 44, 60, 63, 102; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV)

McGill, George R., acting agent for the Maryland State Colonization Society and the American Colonization Society in the colony in Africa.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 52, 64, 73-74, 119, 169, 241)

McGill, Samuel Ford, Dr., Governor of the colony in Africa established by the Maryland State Colonization Society.  Succeeded John Brown Russwurm as Governor after he died in Africa.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 119-121, 157, 188, 165-166, 169, 170, 2017, 214, 224, 231-233)

McKeen, Silas, Reverend, clergyman.  Member and strong advocate of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 132)

McKendree, William, Sumner County, Virginia, Vice-President, American Colonization Society, 1833-36.  (Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 2, p. 85; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

McKenney, William, Reverend, clergyman.  Successful and effective agent of the American Colonization Society (ACS).  In 1824, set up local societies of the ACS in Deleware, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia.  Set up societies in Norfolk, Petersburg, Portsmouth, Lynchburg and Hampton.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 42-45, 56, 57, 65, 68, 95, 97, 100-103, 189; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 105-108, 114, 115)

McKim, Isaac, Baltimore, Maryland, wealthy shipper, merchant.  American Colonization Society Vice-President, 1817, 1833-39.  Member of the Annapolis auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 41, 70, 111)

McLain, William, Reverend, clergyman.  Agent, officer and leader of the American Colonization Society.  (Burin, 2005, pp. 77, 79, 97, 107, 113, 148-149; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 239-240)

McLance, Louis, Smyrna, Delaware, Vice-President, American Colonization Society, 1833-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

McPhail, John, Norfolk, Virginia.  American Colonization Society representative in Norfolk.  Chartered ships for the Society, arranged for supplies, and aided colonists in Norfolk.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 109-110, 115, 159, 179, 180)

Meade, William, 1789-1862, Virginia, clergyman, soldier.  American Colonization Society, Vice-President, 1834-1841.  Influential member of the Colonization Society.  Freed his slaves.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 27-28, 53-54, 70-74, passim 189-190; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 282-283; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 2, p. 480)

MEADE, William, P. E. bishop; b. near Millwood, Frederick (now Clarke) co., Va., 11 Nov., 1789; d. in Richmond, Va., 14 March, 1862, was graduated at Princeton in 1808, studied theology, was made deacon, 24 Feb., 1811, and ordained priest, 10 Jan., 1814. He began his ministry in his native parish as assistant to Rev. Alexander Balmaine, but in the autumn of 1811 he became rector of Christ church, Alexandria, Va., where he remained for eighteen months. He then returned to Millwood, succeeding the rector on the death of the latter in 1821. Being independent in his pecuniary circumstances, Mr. Meade officiated gratuitously for many years in his own parish and in the surrounding country. ln 1813-‘14 he took an active part in procuring the election of Dr. Richard C. Moore, of New York, as the successor of Bishop James Madison in the episcopate of Virginia, and contributed materially to the establishment of a diocesan theological seminary at Alexandria, and various educational and missionary societies connected with his denomination. In 1819 he went to Georgia as a commissioner to negotiate for the release of certain recaptured Africans who were about to be sold, and succeeded in his mission. On his journey he was active in establishing auxiliaries to the American colonization society, and was similarly occupied during a subsequent trip through the middle and eastern states. He emancipated his own slaves, but the experiment proved so disastrous to the negroes that he ceased to advise its repetition by others. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Mechlin, Joseph, Dr., colonial agent in Africa for the American Colonization society.  Replaced Dr. Richard Randall, who had died in Africa in April 1829.  Served four years, until 1833.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 47-50, 64, 72-73; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 164-167, 207, 222, 226)

Mercer, Charles Fenton, 1778-1858, Leesburg, Virginia, soldier, political leader, opponent of slavery.  Vice President, American Colonization Society, 1834-1841, Director, 1839-1840, life member.  Called the “American Wilberforce.”  Introduced a bill in the U.S. Congress for the federal government to “make such regulations and arrangements, as he deem expedient, for safeguarding, support and removal of” the Africans in the United States.  $100,000 was appropriated by the bill.  It became the Slave Trade Act of 1819.  It became law on March 4, 1819.  (Burin, 2005, pp. 1, 13-14, 18, 22, 38; Dumond, 1961, p. 61; Mason, 2006, pp. 124-125, 269; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 163; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 31, 48, 50-51, 70, 73, 176-178, 184, 207, 307; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 300; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 2, p. 539)

MERCER, Charles Fenton, soldier, b. in Fredericksburg, Va., 6 June, 1778; d. in Howard, near Alexandria, Va., 4 May, 1858. He was graduated at Princeton in 1797, and commissioned captain of cavalry the next year by Gen. Washington, in anticipation of war with France, but subsequently studied law, and after a tour abroad in 1802-'3, practised his profession. He was a member of the Virginia legislature in 1810-'17, and during the war of 1812 was aide to the governor and in command of the defences of Norfolk, with the rank of brigadier-general. He was chairman of the committee on finances in the legislature in 1816, and introduced the bill for the construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, of which he became president. He was elected to congress as a Federalist in this year, and returned till 1840, a longer period of continued service than that of any of his contemporaries. He was an active protectionist, and an opponent of slavery. He visited Europe in 1853 and conferred with eminent men of several countries in the interests of abolition. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 300.

Mercer, John Francis, 1759-1821, soldier, statesman, planter.  Delegate to the Continental Congress.  Congressman from Maryland.  Voted against the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 301; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 2, p. 543; Dumond, 1961, p. 61; Annals of Congress, 2 Con., 2 Sess., p. 861; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 15, p. 327)

MERCER, John Francis, statesman, b. in Stafford county, Va., 17 May, 1759; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 30 Aug., 1821. He was graduated at William and Mary college in 1775, entered the 3d Virginia regiment as lieutenant in 1776, became captain in 1777, and was aide to Gen. Charles Lee till the battle of Monmouth, when his sympathy with that officer in his disgrace induced him to resign from the army. He returned to Virginia, but soon afterward raised and equipped, at his own expense, a troop of horse, of which he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, and, joining Gen. Robert Lawson’s brigade, he served with it at Guilford and elsewhere until it was disbanded. He then attached his command to the forces under Lafayette, with whom he remained until the surrender at Yorktown. After the war he studied law with Thomas Jefferson, and from 1782 till 1785 was a delegate from Virginia to the Continental congress. He married Sophie, daughter of Richard Sprigg, of West River, Md., in 1785, removed to “Cedar Park,” his wife’s estate, and soon became a leader in Maryland politics. He was a delegate to the convention that framed the U. S. constitution, but opposed the plan that was adopted, and withdrew without signing the document. He was in congress in 1792-'4, served in the legislature for several years, was governor of Maryland in 1801-'3, and after several years of retirement was again in the legislature. Gov. Mercer was the trusted personal and political friend of Jefferson. He died while on a visit to Philadelphia for medical advice. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Mercer, Margaret, 1791-1846, Lynchburg, Virginia, abolitionist, anti-slavery activist, reformer, educator.  Active supporter of the American Colonization Society in Lynchburg.  Slaveholder who freed her slaves in 1846 and paid their way to Liberia.  Raised money for colonization.  Daughter of the Governor of Maryland, John Francis Mercer.  (Burin, 2005, pp. 34, 38, 39, 60, 67, 103-104, 115; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 301; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 2, p. 546; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 110-231; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 15, p. 331)

Meredith, William, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, bank president.  Philadelphia auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 303; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 39)

MEREDITH, William Morris, cabinet officer, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 8 June, 1799; d. there, 17 Aug., 1873. He was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1812, studied law, and about 1820 began practice. He was in the legislature in 1824-'8, president of the select council of Philadelphia in 1834-'49, and a member of the State constitutional convention of 1837. He became secretary of the U. S. treasury in 1849, and held office until the death of President Taylor. He was attorney-general of Pennsyl vania in 1861-'7, and president of the State constitutional convention in 1873. As a lawyer, Mr. Meredith occupied for many years the foremost rank in his native state, and was constantly engaged in important cases in the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and that of the United States. As a ready and able legal debater, he had few superiors in this country. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Metcalfe, Thomas, 1780-1855, Kentucky, political leader, Governor of Kentucky, U.S. Congressman, U.S. Senator.  Supported the American Colonization Society and colonization.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 312; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 6, Pt. 2, p. 584; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 139)

METCALFE, Thomas, governor of Kentucky, b. in Fauquier county, Va., 20 March, 1780; d. in Nicholas county, Ky., 18 Aug., 1855. His parents, who were poor, emigrated to Kentucky and settled in Fayette county. After a few months in a country school the son worked with a stone-cutter, devoting his leisure to study. He served in the war of 1812, and in 1813 commanded a company with credit at the battle of Fort Meigs. While he was absent on this campaign be was elected to the legislature, in which he served three years. He was afterward chosen to congress as a Henry Clay Democrat, serving from 6 Dec., 1819, till 1 June, 1828, when he resigned. From 1829 till 1833 he was governor of Kentucky. He was a member of the state senate in 1834, and president of the board of internal improvement in 1840. Gov. Metcalfe was appointed U. S. senator in place of John J. Crittenden, resigned, serving from 3 July, 1848, till 3 March, 1849, when he retired to his farm between Maysville and Lexington. He was a friend and follower of Henry Clay, and often boasted of his early labors as a stone-mason, delighting in being called the “Old Stone Hammer.” Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Mills, Samuel John, 1783-1818, Torrington, Connecticut, clergyman.  Founded schools for African American children.  Member of the American Colonization Society (ACS).  Went to Africa on behalf of the ACS to found colony.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 333; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 1, p. 15; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 18-19, 28, 37-47 passim, 156)

MILLS, Samuel John, clergyman, b. in Torringford, Conn., 21 April,1783; d. at sea, 16 June, 1818, was graduated at Williams in 1809, and at Andover theological seminary in 1812. While in college he determined to devote his life to missionary work, and in 1810 addresses that he and several of his classmates made before the General association of Massachusetts resulted in the formation of the American board of commissioners for foreign missions. During 1812-'13 he was exploring agent of the Massachusetts and Connecticut missionary societies in the west and southwest, and in 1814-'15 missionary and Bible agent in the southwest. While in New Orleans during the early part of 1815 he was unable to purchase a single Bible in that city, and, in consequence, he procured a supply in both the French and English languages, and distributed many. Finding that seventy or eighty thousand families at the south and west were destitute of a Bible, he suggested the formation of a national society. His efforts contributed to the establishment of the American Bible society in May, 1816, and meanwhile, on 21 June, 1815, he was ordained. Subsequently the education of the colored people claimed his attention, and in 1816 the synod of New York and New Jersey established a school for the education of young men of color that wished to be preachers and teachers of their race. After the school was established Mr. Mills became its agent in the middle states, and was successful in obtaining funds for its support. The American colonization society was founded on 1 Jan., 1817, and Mr. Mills was chosen to explore in its behalf the coast of western Africa, and select the most eligible site for a settlement. He reached Africa in March, 1818, spent two months on that continent, and began his homeward voyage in May. Mr. Mills was called the “Father of foreign mission work in Christian America.” He published an account of his two visits to the south (Andover, 1815). See “Memoirs of the Rev. Samuel J. Mills,” by Gardner Spring (New York, 1854). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Milnor, James, 1773-1844, Pennsylvania, New York, opponent of slavery, lawyer, clergyman.  Member of U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, 1811-1813.  Milnor was an officer in the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society in 1798.  Member of New York auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 334; Biographical Directory of the United States Congress; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 40)

MILNOR, James, clergyman, b. in Philadelphia, 20 June, 1773; d. in New York city, 8 April, 1844. His parents were members of the Society of Friends. He entered the University of Pennsylvania, but, owing to family embarrassments, was not graduated. He began the study of law in 1789, in Philadelphia, and was admitted to the bar in 1794. He began practice in Norristown, Pa., but removed to Philadelphia in 1797, where he soon obtained a large practice. In 1805 he entered political life. He was elected a member of the select council of his native city, re-elected for three years in 1807, and became president of the council in 1808. He was then chosen a member of congress, serving from 4 Nov., 1811, till 3 March, 1813, and, being strongly Federalist in his principles, opposed the second war with Great Britain, in 1812. Soon after returning home he became a candidate for orders in the Protestant Episcopal church. While studying for the ministry he busied himself effectively as catechist and lay reader. He was made deacon, 14 Aug., 1814, and priest, 27 Aug., 1815, by Bishop White. He was elected assistant minister in St. Peter's and the United churches, Philadelphia, in 1814, but two years later he accepted the rectorship of St. George's church, New York city, where he remained until his death. He received the degree of D. D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1819. He visited Europe in 1830 as delegate to the British and Foreign Bible society. His remaining years were spent in parochial work and in aiding the various charitable institutions in Philadelphia. Dr. Milnor's publications were “Oration on Masonry,” before the Grand lodge of Pennsylvania (1811); “Thanksgiving-Day Sermon” (1817); “A Plea for the American Colonization Society” (New York, 1826); “Sermon on the Death of De Witt Clinton, Governor of New York” (New York, 1828); and “A Charitable Judgment of the Opinions and Conduct of Others Recommended,” which was delivered on the Sunday before his death (1844). See a “Memoir,” by the Rev. John S. Stone, D. D. (New York, 1855). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Mines, John, Leesburg, Frederick County, Virginia, clergyman.  Pastor, Leesburg Presbyterian Church.  Member, Frederick auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 70)

Mitchell, James, Reverend, clergyman.  Traveling agent for the American Colonization Society in the 1840s.  He represented Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin.  Organized new state auxiliaries.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 242)

Monroe, James, 1758-1831, Fifth President of the United States.  Monroe supported colonization as President.  He became President of the Virginia auxiliary in Loudoun County of the American Colonization Society.  (Burin, 2005, pp. 11, 14-15; Campbell,1971, p. 7; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 358-362; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 1, p. 87; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 4, 48, 51-53, 62, 107, 108)

MONROE, James, fifth president of the United States, b. in Westmoreland county, Va., 28 April, 1758; d. in New York city, 4 July, 1831. Although the attempts to trace his pedigree have not been successful, it appears certain that the Monroe family came to Virginia as early as 1650, and that they were of Scottish origin. James Monroe's father was Spence Monroe, and his mother was Eliza, sister of Judge Joseph Jones, twice a delegate from Virginia to the Continental congress. The boyhood of the future president was passed in his native county, a neighborhood famous for early manifestations of patriotic fervor. His earliest recollections must have been associated with public remonstrances against the stamp-act (in 1766), and with the reception (in 1769) of a portrait of Lord Chatham, which was sent to the gentlemen of Westmoreland, from London, by- one of their correspondents, Edmund Jennings, of Lincoln's Inn. To the College of William and Mary, then rich and prosperous, James Monroe was sent; but soon after his student life began it was interrupted by the Revolutionary war. Three members of the faculty and twenty-five or thirty students, Monroe among them, entered the military service. He joined the army in 1776 at the headquarters of Washington in New York, as a lieutenant in the 3d Virginia regiment under Col. Hugh Mercer. He was with the troops at Harlem, at White Plains, and at Trenton, where, in leading the advance guard, he was wounded in the shoulder. During 1777-'8 he served as a volunteer aide, with the rank of major, on the staff of the Earl of Stirling, and took part in the battles of the Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. After these services he was commended by Washington for a commission in the state troops of Virginia, but without success. He formed the acquaintance of Gov. Jefferson, and was sent by him as a military commissioner to collect information in regard to the condition and prospects of the southern army. He thus attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel; but his services in the field were completely interrupted, to his disappointment and chagrin. His uncle, Judge Jones, at all times a trusted and intimate counsellor, then wrote to him: “You do well to cultivate the friendship of Mr. Jefferson . . . and while you continue to deserve his esteem, he will not withdraw his countenance.” The future proved the sagacity of this advice, for Monroe's intimacy with Jefferson, which was then established, continued through life, and was the key to his early advancement, and perhaps his ultimate success. The civil life of Monroe began on his election in 1782 to a seat in the assembly of Virginia, and his appointment as a member of the executive council. He was next a delegate to the 4th, 5th, and 6th congresses of the confederation, where, notwithstanding his youth, he was active and influential. Bancroft says of him that when Jefferson embarked for France, Monroe remained “not the ablest but the most conspicuous representative of Virginia on the floor of congress. He sought the friendship of nearly every leading statesman of his commonwealth, and every one seemed glad to call him a friend.” On 1 March, 1784, the Virginia delegates presented to congress a deed that ceded to the United States Virginia's claim to the northwest territory, and soon afterward Jefferson presented his memorable plan for the temporary government of all the western possessions of the United States from the southern boundary (lat. 31° N.) to the Lake of the Woods. From that time until its settlement by the ordinance of 13 July, 1787, this question was of paramount importance. Twice within a few months Monroe crossed the Alleghanies for the purpose of becoming acquainted with the actual condition of the country. One of the fruits of his western observations was a memoir, written in 1786, to prove the rights of the people of the west to the free navigation of the Mississippi. Toward the close of 1784 Monroe was selected as one of nine judges to decide the boundary dispute between Massachusetts and New York. He resigned this place in May, 1786, in consequence of an acrimonious controversy in which he became involved. Both the states that were at difference with each other were at variance with Monroe in respect to the right to navigate the Mississippi, and he thought himself thus debarred from being acceptable as an umpire to either of the contending parties, to whom he owed his appointment.

In the congress of 1785 Monroe was interested in the regulation of commerce by the confederation, and he certainly desired to secure that result; but he was also jealous of the rights of the southern states, and afraid that their interests would be overbalanced by those of the north. His policy was therefore timid and dilatory. A report upon the subject by the committee, of which he was chairman, was presented to congress, 28 March, 1785, and led to a long discussion, but nothing came of it. The weakness of the confederacy grew more and more obvious, and the country was drifting toward a stronger government. But the measures proposed by Monroe were not entirely abortive. Says John Q. Adams: “They led first to the partial convention of delegates from five states at Annapolis in September, 1786, and then to the general convention at Philadelphia in 1787, which prepared and proposed the constitution of the United States. Whoever contributed to that event is justly entitled to the gratitude of the present age as a public benefactor, and among them the name of Monroe should be conspicuously enrolled.”

According to the principle of rotation then in force, Monroe's congressional service expired in 1786, at the end of a three years' term. He then intended to make his home in Fredericksburg, and to practise law, though he said he should be happy to keep clear of the bar if possible. But it was not long before he was again called into public life. He was chosen at once a delegate to the assembly, and soon afterward became a member of the Virginia convention to consider the ratification of the proposed constitution of the United States, which assembled at Richmond in 1788. In this convention the friends of the new constitution were led by James Madison, John Marshall, and Edmund Randolph. Patrick Henry was their chief opponent, and James Monroe was by his side, in company with William Grayson and George Mason. In one of his speeches, Monroe made an elaborate historical argument, based on the experience of Greece, Germany, Switzerland, and New England, against too firm consolidation, and he predicted conflict between the state and national authorities, and the possibility that a president once elected might be elected for life. In another speech he endeavored to show that the rights of the western territory would be less secure under the new constitution than they were under the confederation. He finally assented to the ratification on condition that certain amendments should be adopted. As late as 1816 he recurred to the fears of a monarchy, which he had entertained in 1788, and endeavored to show that they were not unreasonable. Under the new constitution the first choice of Virginia for senators fell upon Richard Henry Lee and William Grayson. The latter died soon afterward, and Monroe was selected by the legislature to fill the vacant place. He took his seat in the senate, 6 Dec., 1790, and held the office until May, 1794, when be was sent as envoy to France. Among the Anti-Federalists he took a prominent stand, and was one of the most determined opponents of the administration of Washington. To Hamilton he was especially hostile. The appointment of Gouverneur Morris to be minister to France, and of John Jay to be minister to England, seemed to him most objectionable. Indeed, he met all the Federalist attempts to organize a strong and efficient government with incredulity or with adverse criticism. It was therefore a great surprise to him, as well as to the public, that, while still a senator, he was designated the successor of Morris as minister to France. For this difficult place he was not the first choice of the president, nor the second; but he was known to be favorably disposed toward the French government, and it was thought that he might lead to the establishment of friendly relations with that power, and, besides, there is no room to doubt that Washington desired, as John Quincy Adams has said, to hold the balance between the parties at home by appointing Jay, the Federalist, to the English mission, and Monroe, the Republican, to the French mission. It was the intent of the United States to avoid a collision with any foreign power, but neutrality was in danger of being considered an offence by either France or England at any moment. Monroe arrived in Paris just after the fall of Robespierre, and in the excitement of the day he did not at once receive recognition from the committee of public safety. He therefore sent a letter to the president of the convention, and arrangements were made for his official reception, 15 Aug., 1794. At that time he addressed the convention in terms of great cordiality, but his enthusiasm led him beyond his discretion. He transcended the authority that had been given to him, and when his report reached the government at home Randolph sent him a despatch, “in the frankness of friendship,” criticising severely the course that the plenipotentiary had pursued. A little later the secretary took a more conciliatory tone, and Monroe believed he never would have spoken so severely if all the despatches from Paris had reached the United States in due order. The residence of Monroe in France was a period of anxious responsibility, during which he did not succeed in recovering the confidence of the authorities at home. When Pickering succeeded Randolph in the department of state, Monroe was informed that he was superseded by the appointment of Charles C. Pinckney. The letter of recall was dated 22 Aug., 1796. On his return be published a pamphlet of 500 pages, entitled “A View of the Conduct of the Executive” (Philadelphia, 1797), in which he printed his instructions, correspondence with the French and United States governments, speeches, and letters received from American residents in Paris. This publication made a great stir. Washington, who had then retired from public life, appears to have remained quiet under the provocation, but be wrote upon his copy of the “View” animadversions that have since been published. Party feeling, already excited, became fiercer when Monroe's book appeared, and personalities that have now lost their force were freely uttered on both sides. Under these circumstances Monroe became the hero of the Anti-Federalists, and was at once elected governor of Virginia. He held the office from 1799 till 1802. The most noteworthy occurrence during his administration was the suppression of a servile insurrection by which the city of Richmond was threatened. Monroe's star continued in the ascendant. After Thomas Jefferson's election to the presidency in 1801, an opportunity occurred for returning Mr. Monroe to the French mission, from which be had been recalled a few years previously. There were many reasons for believing that the United States could secure possession of the territory beyond the Mississippi belonging to France. The American minister in Paris, Robert R Livingston, had already opened the negotiations, and Monroe was sent as an additional plenipotentiary to second, with his enthusiasm and energy, the effort that had been begun. By their joint efforts it came to pass that in the spring of 1803 a treaty was signed by which France gave up to the United States for a pecuniary consideration the vast region then known as Louisiana. Livingston remarked to the plenipotentiaries after the treaty was signed: “We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our lives.” The story of the negotiations that terminated in this sale is full of romance. Bonaparte, Talleyrand, and Marbois were the representatives of France; Jefferson, Livingston, and Monroe guided the interests of the United States. The French were in need of money and the Americans could afford to pay well for the control of the entrance to the Mississippi. England stood ready to seize the coveted prize. The moment was opportune; the negotiators on both sides were eager for the transfer. It did not take long to agree upon the consideration of 80,000,000 francs as the purchase-money, and the assent of Bonaparte was secured. “I have given to England,” he said, exultingly, “a maritime rival that will sooner or later humble her pride.” It is evident that the history of the United States has been largely influenced by this transaction, which virtually extended the national domain from the mouth of the Mississippi river to the mouth of the Columbia. Monroe went from Paris to London, where he was accredited to the court of St. James, and subsequently went to Spain in order to negotiate for the cession of Florida to the United States. But he was not successful in this and returned to London, where, with the aid of William Pinckney, who was sent to re-enforce his efforts, he concluded a treaty with Great Britain after long negotiations frequently interrupted. This treaty failed to meet the expectations of the United States in two important particulars—it made no provisions against the impressment of seamen, and it secured no indemnity for loss that Americans had incurred in the seizure of their goods and vessels. Jefferson was so dissatisfied that he would not send the treaty to the senate. Monroe returned home in 1807 and at once drew up an elaborate defence of his political conduct. Matters were evidently drifting toward war between Great Britain and the United States. Again the disappointed and discredited diplomatist received a token of popular approbation. He was for the third time elected to the assembly, and in 1811 was chosen for the second time governor of Virginia. He remained in this office but a short time, for he was soon called by Madison to the office of secretary of state. He held the portfolio during the next six years, from 1811 to 1817. In 1814-'15 he also acted as secretary of war. While he was a member of the cabinet of Madison, hostilities were begun between the United States and England. The public buildings in Washington were burned, and it was only by the most strenuous measures that the progress of the British was interrupted. Monroe gained much popularity by the measures that he took for the protection of the capital and for the enthusiasm with which he prosecuted the war measures of the government.

Monroe had now held almost every important station except that of president to which a politician could aspire. He had served in the legislature of Virginia, in the Continental congress, and in the senate of the United States. He had been a member of the convention that considered the ratification of the constitution, twice be had served as governor, twice he had been sent abroad as a minister, and he had been accredited to three great powers. He had held two places in the cabinet of Madison. With the traditions of those days, which regarded experience in political affairs a qualification for an exalted station, it was most natural that Monroe should become a candidate for the presidency. Eight years previously his fitness for the office bad been often discussed. Now, in 1816, at the age of fifty-nine years, almost exactly the age at which Jefferson and Madison attained the same position, he was elected president of the United States, receiving 183 votes in the electoral college against 34 that were given for Rufus King, the candidate of the Federalists. He continued in this office until 1825. His second election in 1821 was made with almost complete unanimity, but one electoral vote being given against him. Daniel D. Tompkins was vice-president during both presidential terms. John Quincy Adams, John C. Calhoun, William H. Crawford, and William Wirt, were members of the cabinet during his entire administration. The principal subjects that engaged the attention of the president were the defences of the Atlantic seaboard, the promotion of internal improvements, the conduct of the Seminole war, the acquisition of Florida, the Missouri compromise, and the resistance to foreign interference in American affairs, formulated in a declaration that is called the “Monroe doctrine.” Two social events marked the beginning and the end of his administration: first, his ceremonious visit to the principal cities of the north and south; and second, the national reception of the Marquis de Lafayette who came to this country as the nation's guest. The purchase of the Floridas was brought to a successful issue, 22 Feb., 1819, by a treaty with Spain, concluded at Washington, and thus the control of the entire Atlantic and Gulf seaboard, from the St. Croix to the Sabine, was secured to the United States. Monroe's influence in the controversies that preceded the Missouri compromise does not appear to have been very strong. He showed none of the boldness which Jefferson would have exhibited under similar circumstances. He took more interest in guiding the national policy with respect to internal improvements and the defence of the seaboard. He vetoed the Cumberland road bill, 4 May, 1822, on the ground that congress had no right to execute a system of internal improvement; but he held that if such powers could be secured by constitutional amendment good results would follow. Even then he held that the general government should undertake only works of national significance, and should leave all minor improvements to the separate states. There is no measure with which the name of Monroe is connected so important as his enunciation of “the Monroe doctrine.” The words of this famous utterance constitute two paragraphs in the president's message of 2 Dec., 1823. In the first of these paragraphs he declares that the governments of Russia and Great Britain have been informed that the American continents henceforth are not to be considered subjects for future colonization by any European powers. In the second paragraph he says that the United States would consider any attempt on the part of the European powers to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. He goes further, and says that if the governments established in North and South America who have declared their independence of European control should be interfered with by any European power, this interference would be regarded as the manifestation of unfriendly disposition to the United States. These utterances were addressed especially to Spain and Portugal. They undoubtedly expressed the dominant sentiments of the people of the United States at the time they were uttered, and, moreover, they embodied a doctrine which had been vaguely held in the days of Washington, and from that time to the administration of Monroe had been more and more clearly avowed. It has received the approval of successive administrations and of the foremost publicists and statesmen. The peace and prosperity of America have been greatly promoted by the declaration, almost universally assented to, that European states are not to gain new dominion in America. For convenience of reference the two passages of the message are here quoted:

“At the proposal of the Russian imperial government, made through the minister of the emperor residing here, full power and instructions have been transmitted to the minister of the United States at St. Petersburg, to arrange, by amicable negotiation, the respective rights and interests of the two nations on the northwest coast of this continent. A similar proposal had been made by his imperial majesty to the government of Great Britain, which bas likewise been acceded to. The government of the United States has been desirous, by this friendly proceeding, of manifesting the great value which they have invariably attached to the friendship of the emperor, and their solicitude to cultivate the best understanding with his government. In the discussions to which this interest has given rise, and in the arrangements by which they may terminate, the occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European power. . . . We owe it, therefore, to candor, and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers, to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered, and shall not interfere. But with the governments who have declared their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power, in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.”

At the close of Monroe's second term as president he retired to private life, and during the seven years that remained to him resided part of the time at Oak Hill, Loudon co., Va., and part of the time in the city of New York. The illustration on page 359 represents both the old and the new Oak Hill mansions. He accepted the office of regent in the University of Virginia in 1826 with Jefferson and Madison. He was asked to serve on the electoral ticket of Virginia in 1828, but declined on the ground that an ex-president should not be a party-leader. He consented to act as a local magistrate, however, and to become a member of the Virginia constitutional convention. The administration of Monroe has often been designated as the “era of good feeling.” Schouler, the historian, has found this heading on an article that appeared in the Boston “Centinel” of 12 July, 1817. It is, on the whole, a suitable phrase to indicate the state of political affairs that succeeded to the troublesome period of organization and preceded the fearful strains of threatened disruption and of civil war. One idea is consistently represented by Monroe from the beginning to the end of his public life—the idea that America is for Americans, that the territory of the United States is to be protected and enlarged, and that foreign intervention will never be permitted. In his early youth Monroe enlisted for the defence of American independence. He was one of the first to perceive the importance of free navigation upon the Mississippi; he negotiated with France and Spain for the acquisition of Louisiana and Florida; he gave a vigorous impulse to the second war with Great Britain in defence of our maritime rights when the rights of a neutral power were endangered; and he enunciated a dictum against foreign interference which has now the force of international law. Judged by the high stations he was called upon to fill, his career was brilliant; but the writings he has left in state papers and correspondence are inferior to those of Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, and others of his contemporaries. He is rather to be honored as an upright and patriotic citizen who served his party with fidelity and never condescended to low and unworthy measures. He deserved well of the country, which he served faithfully during his career. After his retirement from the office of president he urged upon the government the judgment of unsettled claims which he presented for outlays made during his prolonged political services abroad and for which he had never received adequate remuneration. During the advance of old age his time was largely occupied in correspondence, and he undertook to write a philosophical history of the origin of free governments, which was published long after his decease. While attending congress, Monroe married, in 1786, a daughter of Lawrence Kortright, of New York. One of his two daughters, Eliza, married George Hay, of Virginia, and the other, Maria, married Samuel L. Gouverneur, of New York.

A large number of manuscripts, including drafts of state papers, letters addressed to Monroe, and letters from him, have been preserved. Most of these have been purchased by congress and are preserved in the archives of the state department; others are still held by his descendants. Schouler, in his “History of the United States,” has made use of this material to advantage, particularly in his account of the administrations of Madison and Monroe, which he has treated in detail. Bancroft, in his “History of the Constitution,” draws largely upon the Monroe papers, many of which he prints for the first time. The eulogy of John Quincy Adams (Boston, 1831) and his diary afford the best contemporary view of Monroe’s characteristics as a statesman. Jefferson, Madison, Webster, Calhoun, and Benton have left their appreciative estimates of his character.

The remains of James Monroe were buried in Marble cemetery, Second street, between First and Second avenues, New York, but in 1858 were taken to Richmond, Va., and there reinterred on the 28th of April, in Hollywood. (See illustration above.) See Samuel P. Waldo's “Tour of James Monroe through the Northern and Eastern States, with a Sketch of his Life” (Hartford, 1819); “Life of James Monroe, with a Notice of his Administration,” by John Quincy Adams (Buffalo, 1850); “Concise History of the Monroe Doctrine,” by George F. Tucker (Boston, 1885); and Daniel C. Gilman's life of Monroe, in the “American Statesmen” series (Boston, 1883). In the volume last named is an appendix by J. F. Jameson, which gives a list of writings pertaining to Monroe's career and to the Monroe doctrine. Monroe's portrait by Stuart is in the possession of Thomas J. Coolidge, and that by Vanderlyn is in the city-hall, New York, both of which have been engraved. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Montgomery, J. H., Augusta, Georgia, jurist, Supreme Courts of Georgia.  Member, Augusta auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

Moore, Cornelius, Ohio.  Traveling agent for the American Colonization Society in Oho in 1834.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 140)

Morris, Thomas, 1776-1844, Cincinnati, Ohio, Virginia, first abolitionist Senator, 1833, vice president of the Liberty Party, abolitionist, Ohio lawmaker 1806-1830, Chief Justice of the State of Ohio 1830-1833, U.S. Senator 1833-183?.  Executive Committee, American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (A&FASS), 1840-1844.  Vice President of the American Colonization Society (ACS), 1839-1841.  Fought for right to petition Congress against slavery.  (Dumond, 1961, pp. 92, 135, 243, 244, 286, 300; Mitchell, 2007, pp. 11, 18, 23-24, 27; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 48; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 15, p. 916; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 418; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 1, p. 226)

MORRIS, Thomas, senator, b. in Augusta county, Va., 3 Jan., 1776; d. in Bethel, Ohio, 7 Dec., 1844. His father was a Baptist clergyman of Welsh descent. The son removed to Columbia, Ohio, in 1795, entered the service, as a farm-hand, of Rev. John Smith, first U. S. senator from Ohio, and in 1800 settled in Clermont county. While engaged in farming be studied law, and in 1804 was admitted to the bar. He was elected to the legislature in 1806, was continuously a member for twenty-four years, became eminent in his profession, was a judge of the supreme court, and was chosen U. S. senator in 1832. He was an ardent opponent of slavery, engaged in important debates with John C. Calhoun and Henry Clay in defence of the right of petition and the duty of the government to favor abolition, and was active in support of the freedom of the press. His anti-slavery sentiments being distasteful to the Democratic party, by whom he was elected, he was not returned for a second term, and in March, 1839, he retired. He was nominated for vice-president by the Liberal party at the Buffalo convention in August, 1844. His death occurred a month after the election. Mr. Morris was an energetic politician, and a fearless champion of liberty and the right of individual opinion. See his “Life and Letters,” edited by his son, Benjamin F. Morris (Cincinnati, Ohio, 1855).  Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 418.

Morrow, Jeremiah, 1771-1852, Ohio, political leader, U.S. Senator and Congressman.  Strong supporter of colonization and the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 422; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 1, p. 235; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 138)

MORROW, Jeremiah, senator, b. in Gettysburg, Pa., 6 Oct., 1771; d. in Warren county, Ohio, 22 March, 1852. He removed to the northwest territory in 1795, and in 1802 was a delegate to the convention that formed the Ohio constitution. He was elected to congress as a Democrat on the admission of Ohio into the Union, served in 1803-'13, and was chairman of the committee on public lands. In 1814 he was commissioner to treat with all the Indians west of Miami river. He was a member of the U. S. senate in 1813-'19, governor of Ohio in 1822-'6, served in the state senate in 1826-'8, subsequently became canal commissioner, and for several years was president of the Little Miami railroad. In 1841-'3 he again served in congress. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Munsell, Luke, Dr., Kentucky, Marion County, Indiana, abolitionist.  Strong supporter of colonization and the American Colonization Society.  American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1835-1837, 1837-1840.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 139)

Murray, Daniel, Maryland, founding charter member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Burin, 2005, pp. 35-36; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

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Neal, Isaac, 1793-1844, theologian, teacher, writer, American Colonization Society.

NEAL, Isaac, clergyman, b. in Bedford, N. H., in 1793; d. in Amherst, Mass., 28 April, 1844, was graduated at Yale in 1814. He studied theology, was ordained and became a teacher at the asylum for the deaf and dumb in Hartford, Conn., and afterward labored as a missionary among the colored people in Washington, D. C., and other southern cities, being employed by the American colonization society. He was proficient in mathematics and the natural sciences, and had a talent for mechanics, one of his inventions being an air-tight stove. He was a voluminous writer for the newspaper and periodical press, contributing forty-five letters signed “Hampden” to the New York “Commercial Advertiser,” and eighty letters over the signature of “Timoleon” to the Boston “Courier.” Among his unpublished manuscripts is a commentary on the books of “Daniel” and “Revelation.” Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Neal, John, 1793-1876, Portland, Maine, author, activist, women’s rights activist, anti-capital punishment activist.  Secretary of the Portland, Maine, American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 484; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 1, p. 398; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 219-220)

NEAL, John, author, b. in Falmouth, Mass. (now Portland, Me.), 25 Aug., 1793; d. there, 21 June, 1876. He was of English descent, and for two generations of Quaker stock on both sides. He left school at twelve years of age, but educated himself by continuous reading, which he systematically pursued through life. Neal was variously employed as shop-boy, accountant, and salesman, and then taught penmanship, drawing, and painting, though he was without experience. Later he established himself in the dry-goods trade in Boston, and then he formed a partnership in Baltimore with John Pierpont, the poet. This firm failed in trade in 1816, and dissolved, taking out of the business only a warm and life-long friendship. Neal then studied law in Baltimore, was a member of the Delphian club of that city, famous for its wits, and supported himself by his pen, copying, indexing, and writing poems, novels, essays, and criticisms for the press. His first productions appeared in the “Portico” magazine. He was admitted to the Maryland bar in 1819, and practised his profession. In 1823 he sailed for England, as he said, “to answer on the spot the question ‘Who reads an American book?’” As a pioneer in American literature his success at home and abroad was a surprise to all. Preceding James Fenimore Cooper by several years, while Nathaniel Hawthorne was yet a boy and his compatriot, Charles Brockden Brown, less widely known or less quickly accepted, Neal attracted and compelled attention to American topics and American writings at a time when English literature was regarded as a monopoly of Great Britain. He was the first American contributor to the English and Scotch quarterlies. His sketches of the five American presidents and the five candidates for the presidency in “Blackwood’s,” and a series of like articles on American politics and customs, won for the young author reputation and money. At this time, though in need of money and, as he said, “hopelessly in debt, but hopeful,” he spent the whole of his first “Blackwood” check for two gold pencils that caught his eye in a shop-window, and sent one to his twin sister, Rachel, who was then teaching school in Portland. His writings attracted the notice of Jeremy Bentham, who invited and easily persuaded “Yankee Neal” to come and live with him as one of his students and secretaries, where various literary celebrities were to be met. In 1827 Neal returned to the United States, intending to resume the practice of law in Baltimore, but, in consequence of opposition and threatened persecution from his fellow-townsmen when he visited his sister, he characteristically sent for his law-library and opened his offices in his native place. On 1 Jan., 1828, he began his editorship of “The Yankee,” and for half a century was a frequent but irregular contributor to most of the magazines and newspapers. He wrote much of what is known as Paul Allen’s “History of the American Revolution” in a wonderfully short time, and his pen remained active through life.

He was an earnest opponent of capital punishment, more especially of public executions, and he was the first to advocate in 1838, in a Fourth-of-July oration, the right of woman suffrage. He was abstemiously temperate, yet he wrote in opposition to the Maine liquor law. He was a firm believer in physical training, and established the first gymnasium in this country, copied from the foreign models, and, being an expert gymnast, horseman, swordsman, and boxer, he established and taught classes of young men, and even in his last years kept up his own physical exercise as his only medicine. Phrenology, mesmerism, and spiritualism one after another, attracted his attention and examination, and counted him as among their fairest and least prejudiced investigators. With a quick eye and ready sympathy he sought out, welcomed, and encouraged young men, or gently and successfully discouraged those that afterward were grateful for his advice. Edgar A. Poe received his first encouragement from Mr. Neal. With the instincts of a born journalist, he dashed off novels with great rapidity, while, in the stern spirit of a reformer, he edited forgotten newspapers. He fulminated against fleeting and frivolous opinions, and whipped into a light and airy froth some of the graver issues of life. He was read out of the Society of Friends in his youth, as he says, “for knocking a man head over heels, for writing a tragedy, for paying a militia fine, and for desiring to be turned out whether or no,” but he became late in life an earnest Christian, uniting with the church in 1850. His works include “Keep Cool” (2 vols., Baltimore, 1817); “Niagara” (1819); “Goldan” (1819); “Errata” (2 vols., New York, 1823); “Randolph” (1823); “Seventy-Six” (2 vols., Baltimore, 1823); “Logan” (4 vols., London, 1823); “Brother Jonathan” (3 vols., 1825); “Rachel Dyer” (Portland, 1828); “Principles of Legislation,” translated from the manuscript of Jeremy Bentham, with biographies of Bentham and Pierre Dumont (Boston, 1830); “The Down Easters” (2 vols., New York, 1833); “One Word More” (Portland, 1854); “True Womanhood” (Boston, 1859); “Wandering Recollections of a Somewhat Busy Life” (1869); and “Great Mysteries and Little Plagues” (1870). Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Nelson, Hugh, 1768-1836, Virginia, U.S. Congressman, diplomat, jurist.  Vice-President of Richmond, Virginia, auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Son of Virginia Governor Thomas Nelson.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 492; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 1, p. 416; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 107)

deNeuville, M. Hyde, French Minister to the United States.  Life member of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Niles, Hezekiah, 1777-1839, Baltimore, Maryland, newspaper editor for the Baltimore Morning Chronicle and the Niles Register, 1811-1836.  Vice President of the Maryland Society of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 521; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 1, p. 521; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 111, 173)

NILES, Hezekiah, editor, b. in Chester county, Pa., 10 Oct., 1777; d. in Wilmington, Del., 2 April, 1839. He learned printing, and about 1800 became a member of an unsuccessful publishing firm in Wilmington. He then removed to Baltimore, Md., where for six years he edited a daily paper. He is chiefly known as the founder, printer, and publisher of “Niles's Register,” a weekly journal published in Baltimore, which he edited from 1811 until 1836, and which is considered so valuable as a source of information concerning American history that the first 32 volumes, extending from 1812 till 1827, were reprinted. The “Register” was continued by his son, William Ogden Niles, and others, until 27 June, 1849, making altogether 76 volumes. He advocated the protection of national industry, and was with Mathew Cary a champion of the “American system.” In addition to a series of humorous essays entitled “Quill Driving,” published in a periodical, he compiled a work entitled “Principles and Acts of the Revolution” (Baltimore, 1822). The towns of Niles, Mich., and Niles, Ohio, were named in his honor. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Niles, William Watson, West Fairles, Vermont, clergyman.  Agent of the American Colonization Society in New England.  Traveled in Maine and Eastern Massachusetts.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 122-123, 130, 131)

Norton, John T., New York.  Officer of the New York Society of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 129)

Nourse, James, Reverend, clergyman.  Agent of the American Colonization Society (ACS) in North Carolina.  Founded auxiliaries of the ACS in Cumberland, Randolph and Rowan Counties in North Carolina.  Grandson of Benjamin Rittenhouse.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 108)

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Orr, Isaac, Reverend, Bedford, New Hampshire, clergyman, educator, author.  General agent and Secretary for the American Colonization Society in Albany, New York.  Traveled Philadelphia to Portland, Maine.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 593; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 129-130, 133, 189-190)

Otey, James Hervey, Bishop, 1800-1863, Tennessee, clergyman.  Vice-President of the American Colonization Society, 1840-1841.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 604; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 2, p. 90; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

OTEY, James Hervey, P. E. bishop, b. in Liberty, Bedford co., Va., 27 Jan., 1800; d. in Memphis, Tenn., 23 April, 1863. His father, Isaac Otey, was a farmer in easy circumstances, and frequently represented his county in the house of burgesses. James was one of the younger children in a family of twelve. He early evinced a love of study and of general reading, and, after attending an excellent school in his native county, was sent in his seventeenth year to the University of North Carolina, where he was graduated in 1820. He received honors in belles-lettres, and was immediately appointed tutor in Latin and Greek. In 1823 he took charge of a school in Warrenton, N. C. There his attention was turned to the ministry, and he was ordained both deacon and priest in the Protestant Episcopal church by Bishop Ravenscroft. In 1827 he removed to Tennessee and settled in the town of Franklin, but he changed his residence to Columbia in 1835, and finally to Memphis. On 14 Jan., 1834, he was consecrated bishop of Tennessee. Next to the duties of his episcopate the bishop's heart was most engaged with the work of Christian education. It seemed to be a passionate desire with him to establish in the southwest a large institution in which religion should go hand-in-hand with every lesson of a secular character, and young men be prepared for the ministry. Accordingly, after establishing, with the assistance of Rev. Leonidas Polk, a school for girls, called the “Columbia Institute,” he devoted a great part of his laborious life to the realization of his ideal. For full thirty years (1827-'57) he failed not, in public and in private, by night and by day, to keep this subject before the people of the southern states, until the successful establishment of the University of the south at Suwanee, Tenn., in which he was also aided by Bishop Leonidas Polk. The life of Bishop Otey was one of hard and unceasing labor. He lived to see the few scattered members of his church in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida, as well as Tennessee, organized into dioceses and in successful operation. He was known throughout the south and southwest as the Good Bishop. Though he was strongly opposed to secession, he wrote a letter to the secretary of state, remonstrating against coercion. The reply to this letter changed his views on the subject, and he declined to attend the general convention of his church in the seceding states that was held in Georgia soon afterward. In person the bishop was of a commanding stature, being six feet and two inches in height, and of fitting proportions. He published many addresses, sermons, and charges, and a volume containing the “Unity of the Church” and other discourses (Vicksburg, 1852). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

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Paine, Elijah, 1757-1842, Brooklyn, New York, Vermont, jurist, farmer.  United States Senator, 1795-1801.  Vice-President, American Colonization Society (ACS), 1840-41.  President of the Vermont auxiliary of the ACS.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 628; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 2, p. 148; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 76)

PAINE, Elijah, jurist, b. in Brooklyn, Conn., 21 Jan., 1757; d. in Williamstown, Vt., 28 April, 1842. He was graduated at Harvard in 1781, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1784, began to practise in Vermont, and became largely interested in the development of that state. He engaged in agricultural enterprises and in the manufacture of American cloths, for which purpose he constructed an establishment at a cost of $40,000 in Northfield, Vt., then a wilderness. He also built a turn pike about twenty miles in length over the eastern spurs of the Green mountains. Mr. Paine was a member and secretary of the convention to revise the state constitution in 1786, and in 1789 was commissioner to adjust the claims of New York and Vermont. He was a member of the legislature from 1787 till 1791, at the end of which term he was appointed judge of the supreme court, holding this office until 1795. He was then elected U. S. senator, as a Federalist, serving from 7 Dec., 1795, till 3 March, 1801, and from that year until his death he was U. S. judge for the district of Vermont. He was a member of the American academy of arts and sciences, of the American antiquarian society, and of other learned bodies, and was president of the Vermont colonization society. He was an earnest promoter of education, being a trustee of Dartmouth and Middlebury colleges, and of the University of Vermont. In 1782 he pronounced the first oration before the Phi Beta Kappa society of Harvard. Dartmouth gave him the honorary degree of A. B. in 1786, and Harvard that of LL. D. in 1812, which degree he also received from the University of Vermont in 1825. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Parris, Albion Kieth, 1788-1857, Portland, Maine, lawyer, jurist, U.S. Congressman and Senator, Mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, former Governor of Maine.  Co-founder of the local auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 659; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 2, p. 254; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 211)

Patterson, Thomas, charter member of the American Colonization Society, founded in Washington, DC, in December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Pearl, Cyril, Reverend, Bolton, Connecticut, clergyman.  Agent for the American Colonization Society (ACS), representing Vermont and Maine.  He was assistant to ACS agent Reverend Joshua Danforth.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 197)

Peers, Benjamin Orrs, 1800-1842, clergyman, university president, successful agent of the American Colonization Society.  Traveled in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Ohio, founding numerous auxiliaries and raising funds.  Organized auxiliaries in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Canfield, Canton, and Columbus.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 699; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 2, p. 389; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 137-139)

Peter, George, founding charter member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, in December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Peters, John, founding officer and Board of Managers, American Colonization Society, 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 30, 258n14)

Peters, John S., Connecticut, Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut.  Member and supporter of the Connecticut Society of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 126)

Phelps, Anson Greene, 1781-1853, merchant, philanthropist.  President of the Colonization Society of the State of Connecticut.  Director, American Colonization Society, 1839-1840. (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 751; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 2, p. 525; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 135, 240)

PHELPS, Anson Greene, merchant, b. in Simsbury, Conn., 12 March, 1781; d. in New York city, 30 Nov., 1853. He learned the trade of a saddler, and established himself in Hartford, Conn., with a branch business in Charleston, S. C. In 1815 he became a dealer in tin plate and heavy metals in New York city. Having accumulated a large fortune1 partly by investments in real estate, he devoted himself to benevolent enterprises, and was president of the New York blind asylum, the American board of commissioners for foreign missions, and the New York branch of the Colonization society. He bequeathed $371,000 to charitable institutions, and placed in the hands of his only son a fund of $100,000, the interest of which was to be distributed in charity. In addition to large legacies to his twenty-four grandchildren, he intrusted $5,000 to each to be used in charity. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 751.

Phillips, William, 1750-1827, Massachusetts, benefactor, philanthropist.  Founding officer, Vice President, American Colonization Society, 1816.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 763; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 2, p. 548; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

PHILLIPS, William, benefactor, b. in Boston, Mass., 10 April, 1750; d. there, 26 May, 1827. He engaged in business with his father, of the same name, who was a benefactor of Andover theological seminary, and acquired a fortune. During the Revolutionary war he was an ardent patriot, and subsequent to 1800 he was frequently a member of the legislature, also lieutenant-governor in 1812-'23. At his death he bequeathed large sum of money to Phillips academy, to Andover theological seminary, and other institutions. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Pinney, John B., Reverend, Presbyterian clergyman.  Agent for the American Colonization Society in Africa.  Appointed in 1833.  (Burin, 2005, p. 82; Campbell, 1971, p. 137; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 167, 240)

Pleasants, James, 1769-1839, Virginia, lawyer, U.S. Senator, Governor of Virginia.  Vice President of Richmond auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 39; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 1, p. 6; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 107, 108)

PLEASANTS, James, senator, b. in Goochland county, Va., 24 Oct., 1769; d. at his residence, “Contention,” Goochland county, Va., 9 Nov., 1839. He was a first cousin of Thomas Jefferson. He was educated by private tutors, studied law, was admitted to the bar of his native county, and enjoyed an extensive practice, especially as an advocate. He was a member of the legislature in 1796, having been elected as a Republican, clerk of the house in 1803-'11, and from the latter date till 1819 was in congress. He then became U. S. senator, served in 1819-'22, when he resigned, and was governor of Virginia for the succeeding three years. During his term of office, in 1824, Lafayette visited Virginia. He was a delegate to the Virginia constitutional convention in 1829-'30, and subsequently declined the appointment of judge of the circuit court and of the Virginia court of appeals. The county of Pleasants, now W. Va., is named in his honor. John Randolph of Roanoke said of him: “James Pleasants never made an enemy nor lost a friend.” Appletons’ Cylocpædia of American Biography, 1888.

Polk, Josiah, successful agent for the American Colonization Society in Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Alabama.  He organized and founded auxiliaries in numerous cities in Tennessee, including one in Kingsport, Knoxville, Jonesboro, Memphis, Murfreesboro and Nashville.  He also founded a Society in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  He founded 40 auxiliaries.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 141, 143)

Polk, William, 1758-1834, Raleigh, North Carolina, soldier, colonel, hero of the Revolutionary War.  Officer in the Raleigh auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.    (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 56-57; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 1, p. 43; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

Porter, Alexander, 1785-1844, St. Martinsville, Louisiana, jurist, U.S. Senator.  Vice-President, 1834-41, American Colonization Society (ACS).  Judge Porter was President of the Louisiana auxiliary of the ACS.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 71; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 1, p. 81; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 147)

PORTER, Alexander, jurist, b. near Armagh, County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1796; d. in Attakapas, La., 13 Jan., 1844. His father, an Irish Presbyterian clergyman and chemist, while lecturing in Ireland during the insurrection of 1798, fell under suspicion of being an insurgent spy, and was seized and executed. His son came to this country in 1801 with his uncle, and settled in Nashville, Tenn., where, after serving as clerk, he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1807. By the advice of Gen. Andrew Jackson, he removed to St. Martinsville, La., and was elected to the State constitutional convention of 1811. In 1821-'33 he was judge of the state supreme court, and rendered service by establishing with others a new system of jurisprudence. He was elected a U. S. senator as a Whig, in place of Joseph S. Johnston, deceased, serving from 6 Jan., 1834, till 5 Jan., 1837, and during his term voted to censure President Jackson for the removal of the deposits from the U. S. bank, and favored John C. Calhoun's motion to reject petitions for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. In March, 1836, he made an elaborate reply to a speech of Thomas H. Benton upon the introduction of his “expunging resolutions.” He also opposed Benton's bill for compelling payments for public lands to be made in specie, and advocated the division of surplus revenue among the states, and the recognition of the independence of Texas. He was again elected to the senate in 1843, and served till his death. For many years before his death he resided on his estate, “Oak Lawn,” of 5,000 acres, on Bayou Têche, and the large mansion, where Henry Clay was a frequent visitor, is still (1888) standing in the centre of an extensive park. Appletons’ Cylocpædia of American Biography, 1888.

Post, Ruben, Washington, DC, Manager, American Colonization Society, 1833-34.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Prentiss, Samuel, 1782-1857, Vermont, jurist, American Colonization Society, Vice-President, 1837-1840.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 107; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 1, p. 190)

Proudfit, Alexander Montcrief, 1770-1843, New York, clergyman, author.  Director, American Colonization Society, 1839-1840.  Secretary of the New York Colonization Society, 1835.  (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 128; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

PROUDFIT, Alexander Moncrief, clergyman, b. in Pequea, Pa., 10 Nov., 1770; d. in New Brunswick, N. J., 23 Nov., 1843. He was graduated at Columbia in 1792, studied theology under Dr. John H. Livingston, and was pastor of the Associate Reformed church in Salem, N. Y., from 1794 till 1835. He became secretary of the New York colonization society in the latter year, and held office till his resignation in 1841. Williams gave him the degree of D. D. in 1812. For a short time during his pastorate he was professor of pastoral theology in the Associate Reformed seminary in Newburg, N. Y. He published numerous sermons and addresses, including “The One Thing Needful” (New York, 1804); “Ruin and Recovery of Man” (1806); “Theological Works” (4 vols., 1815); and a work on the “Parables” (1820). See a memoir of him by Rev. John Forsyth (New York, 1844). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 128.

Prout, Jacob W., led colonization expedition to Africa for the Maryland State Colonization Society.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 44, 46, 48, 110)

Prout, William A., African Colony Commissioner for the Maryland State Colonization Society.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 169, 215-217, 219-221, 225-229)

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Rabun, William, 1771-1819, Milledgeville, Georgia, political leader, former Governor of Georgia.  Member of the Milledgeville auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 157; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

RABUN, William, statesman, b. in Halifax county, N. C., 8 April, 1771; d. at Powelton, Hancock co., Ga., 24 Oct., 1819. To this place his father had removed from North Carolina when he was a youth. The son was frequently elected to the legislature. In 1817 he was president of the state senate, and as such became ex-officio governor of the state on the resignation of Gov. Mitchell. In the following year he was elected to the same post by popular vote, and died in office. While he was governor he had a sharp correspondence with Gen. Andrew Jackson growing, out of the Seminole war, then in progress. Gov. Rabun’s devotion to the church of which he was a member was not surpassed by his fidelity as a civilian. While he was governor he performed the duties of chorister and clerk in the Baptist church at Powelton. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Ralston, Gerald, London, Great Britain, Vice-President, American Colonization Society, 1840-1841.  Founder and officer of the Philadelphia Society of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 125, 126, 182, 222)

Ralston, Robert, 1761-1836, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, businessman, philanthropist, Director of the Bank of the United States.  Vice-President, 1833-37, and member of the Philadelphia auxiliary of the American Colonization Society. (Rodriguez, 2007, p. 156; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 164; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 30, 39)

Randall, Richard, Dr., Washington, DC, physician.  Member of the Board of Directors of the American Colonization Society (ACS).  Randall replaced Jehudi Ashmun as Colonial Agent in Africa for the ACS.  Died in Africa in April 1829.  (Campbell, 1971,p. 11; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 162)

Randolph, John, charter member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, December 1816.

Reed, Alexander, Pennsylvania, Vice-President, American Colonization Society, 1839-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Reid, James, Hagerstown, Maryland, agent for Maryland State Colonization Society in Western Maryland.  (Campbell, 1971, p. 102)

Rives, William Cabel, 1793-1868, Albemarle County, Virginia, U.S. Congressman, Senator, protégé of Thomas Jefferson.  American Colonization Society, Vice-President, 1838-1841.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 267; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 1, p. 635; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 107-207)

Roane, John, Virginia, U.S. Congressman.  Member and supporter of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 107)

Roberts, John M., Maryland, agent for the Maryland State Colonization Society.  Hired in 1838.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 107-108)

Romeyn, John Brodhead, Reverend, b. 1777, New York, clergyman.  Member of the auxiliary of the New York American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 315; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 17, 40)

ROMEYN, John Brodhead, clergyman, b. in Marbletown, Ulster co., N. Y., 8 Nov., 1777; d. in New York city, 22 Feb., 1825, was graduated at Columbia in 1795, and in 1798 was licensed to preach. He became pastor of the Reformed Dutch church in Rhinebeck, N. Y., in 1799, and of the Presbyterian church in Schenectady in 1803, was in charge of the church in Albany for the succeeding four years, and then accepted the charge of the Cedar street church, New York city, which he held until his death. Princeton gave him the degree of D. D. in 1809. Dr. Romeyn was one of the most popular preachers of his day, and an able theologian. He declined calls to numerous wealthy parishes, and the presidencies of Transylvania university and Dickinson college. He was one of the founders of Princeton theological seminary, a trustee of that institution and of Princeton college, and at the age of thirty-three was moderator of the general assembly of the Presbyterian church. He published a large number of occasional discourses, which were collected and republished (2 vols., New York, 1816). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Roper, William, Boston, Massachusetts.  Corresponding Committee of the Massachusetts auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Worked with Ralph Gurley.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 130, 159, 165)

Rush, Richard, 1780-1859, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, statesman, diplomat.  Founding member, 1816, and Vice-President, 1833-1840, of the American Colonization Society.  Son of abolitionist Benjamin Rush.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 350; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 2, p. 231; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 30)

RUSH, Richard, statesman. b. in Philadelphia, 29 Aug., 1780; d. there, 30 July, 1859, was graduated at Princeton in 1797, and admitted to the bar of Philadelphia in 1800, and early in his career won distinction by his defence of William Duane, editor of the “Aurora,” on a charge of libelling Gov. Thomas McKean. He became solicitor of the guardians of the poor of Philadelphia in 1810, and attorney-general of Pennsylvania in 1811, comptroller of the U. S. treasury in November of the same year, and in 1814-'17 was U. S. attorney-general. He became temporary U. S. secretary of state in 1817, and was then appointed minister to England, where he remained till 1825, negotiating several important treaties, especially that of 1818 with Lord Castlereagh respecting the fisheries, the north west boundary-line, conflicting claims beyond the Rocky mountains, and the slaves of American citizens that were carried off on British ships, contrary to the treaty of Ghent. He was recalled in 1825 to accept the portfolio of the treasury which had been offered him by President Adams, and in 1828 he was a candidate for the vice-presidency on the ticket with Mr. Adams. In 1829 he negotiated in Holland a loan for the corporations of Washington, Georgetown, D. C., and Alexandria, Va. He was a commissioner to adjust a boundary dispute between Ohio and Michigan in 1835, and in 1836 was appointed by President Jackson a commissioner to obtain the legacy of James Smithson (q. v.), which he left to found the Smithsonian institution. The case was then pending in the English chancery court, and in August, 1838, Mr. Rush returned with the amount, $508,318.46. He was minister to France in 1847-'51, and in 1848 was the first of the ministers at that court to recognize the new republic, acting in advance of instruction from his government. Mr. Rush began his literary career in 1812, when he was a member of the Madison cabinet, by writing vigorous articles in defence of the second war with England. His relations with John Quincy Adams were intimate, and affected his whole career. He became an anti-Mason in 1831, in 1834 wrote a powerful report against the Bank of the United States, and ever afterward co-operated with the Democratic party. He was a member of the American philosophical society. His publications include “Codification of the Laws of the United States” (5 vols., Philadelphia, 1815); “Narrative of a Residence at the Court of London from 1817 till 1825” (London, 1833); a second volume of the same work, “Comprising Incidents, Official and Personal, from 1819 till 1825” (1845; 3d ed., under the title of the “Court of London from 1819 till 1825, with Notes by the Author's Nephew,” 1873); “Washington in Domestic Life,” which consists of personal letters from Washington to his private secretary, Col. Tobias Lear, and some personal recollections (1857); and a volume of “Occasional Productions, Political, Diplomatic, and Miscellaneous, including a Glance at the Court and Government of Louis Philippe, and the French Revolution of 1848,” published by his sons (1860). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Russwurm, John Brown, 1799-1851, African American, anti-slavery newspaper editor.  Co-editor of Freedom’s Journal, with Samuel Cornish.  Became senior editor in 1827.  Freedom’s Journal was the first newspaper in the United States to be owned, edited and published by African Americans.  Later, editor of Rights of All.  Governor of Maryland in Liberia, the colony of the Maryland State Colonization Society.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 50-52, 90-91, 114, 122-125, 127-130, 132-134, 136-137, 141-145, 152, 165; Dumond, 1961, p. 329; Sagarin, 1970; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 2, p. 253; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 19, p. 117.)

Rutgers, Henry, 1745-1830, New York, real estate magnate, philanthropist, colonel.  Founding officer, Vice President, 1816, officer, New York auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 355; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 2, p. 255; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 30, 40, 80)

RUTGERS, Henry, patriot, b. in New York city 7 Oct., 1745; d. there, 17 Feb., 1830. He was graduated at Columbia in 1766, served as a captain in the American army at the battle of White Plains, and subsequently was a colonel of New York militia. During the British occupation of New York city his house was used as a barrack and hospital. Col. Rutgers was a member of the New York legislature in 1784, and was frequently re-elected. He was the proprietor of land on East river, in the vicinity of Chatham square, and in other parts of the city, and gave sites for streets, schools, churches, and charities. He presided over a meeting that was held on 24 June, 1812, to prepare against an expected attack of the British, and contributed toward defensive works. From 1802 till 1826 he was one of the regents of the State university. He gave $5,000 for the purpose of reviving Queen's college in New Jersey, the name of which was changed to Rutgers college on 5 Dec., 1825. See memoir in “New York Genealogical and Biographical Record” of April, 1886; and “The Rutgers Family of New York,” by Ernest H. Crosby (New York, 1886). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Ryland, William, Washington, DC, Manager, American Colonization Society, 1833-34.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

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Schaff, J. S., founding charter member of the American Colonization Society, Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Seaton, William Winston, 1785-1866, Washington, DC, journalist, newspaper editor, Mayor of Washington, DC.  American Colonization Society, Manager, 1833-1839, Executive Committee, 1839-1841.  Editor of the National Intelligencer in Washington, DC.  Elected Mayor of Washington, DC, in 1840, serving 12 years in office.  Co-published Annals of Congress.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 448; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Sessions, Horace, Pomfret, Connecticut, clergyman.  Agent for the American Colonization Society, Rhode Island and Connecticut.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 123-124)

Sewall, Thomas, 1786-1845, Washington, DC, physician.  Manager, American Colonization Society, 1834-39.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 469; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Sewall, Thomas, physician, b. in Augusta, life., 16 April, 1786; d. in Washington, D. C., 10 April, 1845, was graduated in medicine at Harvard in 1812, and practised in Essex, Mass., till 1820, when he removed to Washington. In 1821 he was appointed professor of anatomy in the National medical college of Columbian university. He began his lectures when the college first opened in 1825, and continued them till his death. He published, among other works, “The Pathology of Drunkenness” (Albany), which was translated into German, and established his reputation as an original investigator in Europe as well as in the United States. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Seys, John, Reverend, Maryland, clergyman, missionary.  Traveling agent of the Maryland State Colonization Society.  Later worked for the American Colonization Society in Ohio.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 199, 200, 201, 204, 209)

Sheppard, Moses, Baltimore, Maryland, businessman, philanthropist.  Manager, American Colonization Society, 1833-1834.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 20, 38, 46, 49, 119, 193, 242)

Short, William, 1759-1849, Pennsylvania, diplomat, American Friends (Quaker), anti-slavery activist.  Vice-President, American Colonization Society (ACS), 1840-41.  Supported the ACS with a $10,000 bequest.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 516; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 1, p. 128; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 126, 243)

SHORT, William, diplomatist, b. in Spring Garden, Va., 30 Sept., 1759; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 5 Dec., 1849. He was educated at William and Mary college, and at an early age was chosen a member of the executive council of Virginia. When Thomas Jefferson was appointed minister to France in 1785, Short accompanied him as secretary of legation, and after his departure was made charge d’affaires on 26 Sept., 1789, his commission being the first one that was signed by Gen. Washington as president, but he was not regularly commissioned till 20 April, 1790. He was transferred to the Hague as minister-resident on 16 Jan., 1792. On 19 Dec. of the same year he left for Madrid, having been appointed on 18 March commissioner plenipotentiary with William Carmichael to treat with the Spanish government concerning the Florida and Mississippi boundaries, the navigation of the Mississippi, commercial privileges, and other open questions. When Carmichael, who was chargé d’affaires, left for home Short was commissioned as minister-resident, 28 May, 1794, with power, as sole commissioner, to conclude the negotiations, which resulted in the treaty of friendship, commerce, and boundaries that was signed on 27 Oct., 1795. He left for Paris three days later, and returned to the United States soon afterward. His state papers, especially those relating to the Spanish negotiations, are marked by ability and research. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Sigourney, Lydia Huntley, 1791-1865, Hartford, Connecticut, author.  Outspoken supporter of colonization and supporter of the American Colonization Society.  Leader of Hartford Female African Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 525; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 1, p. 155; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 127)

SIGOURNEY, Lydia Huntley, author, b. in Norwich, Conn., 1 Sept., 1791; d. in Hartford, Conn., 10 June, 1865. She was the daughter of Ezekiel Huntley, a soldier of the Revolution. She read at the age of three, and at seven wrote simple verses. After receiving a superior education at Norwich and Hartford, she taught for five years a select class of young ladies in the latter city. In 1815, at the suggestion and under the patronage of Daniel Wadsworth, she published her first volume, “Moral Pieces in Prose and Verse.” In 1819 she became the wife of Charles Sigourney, a Hartford merchant of literary and artistic tastes. Without neglecting her domestic duties, she thenceforth devoted her leisure to literature, at first to gratify her own inclinations and subsequently, after her husband had lost the greater part of his fortune, to add to her income. She soon attained a reputation that secured for her books a ready sale. In her posthumous “Letters of Life” (1866) she enumerates forty-six distinct works, wholly or partially from her pen, besides more than 2,000 articles in prose and verse that she had contributed to nearly 300 periodicals. Several of her books also attained a wide circulation in England, and they were also much read on the continent. She received from the queen of the French a handsome diamond bracelet as a token of that sovereign's esteem. Her poetry is not of the highest order. It portrays in graceful and often felicitous language the emotions and sympathies of the heart, rather than the higher conceptions of the intellect. Her prose is graceful and elegant, and is modelled to a great extent on that of Addison and the Aikins, who, in her youth, were regarded as the standards of polite literature. All her writings were penned in the interest of a pure morality, and many of them were decidedly religious. Perhaps no American writer has been more frequently called upon for gratuitous occasional poems of all kinds. To these requests she generally acceded, and often greatly to her own inconvenience. But it was not only through her literary labors that Mrs. Sigourney became known. Her whole life was one of active and earnest philanthropy. The poor, the sick, the deaf-mute, the blind, the idiot, the slave, and the convict were the objects of her constant care and benefaction. Her pensioners were numerous, and not one of them was ever forgotten. During her early married life, she economized in her own wardrobe and personal luxuries that she might be able to relieve the needy, while later in her career she saved all that was not absolutely needed for home comforts and expenses for the same purpose. Her character and worth were highly appreciated in the city that for more than fifty years was her home. She never left it after her marriage, except when in 1840 she visited Europe, a record of which journey she published in “Pleasant Memories of Pleasant Lands” (Boston, 1842). During her residence abroad two volumes of her poems were issued in London. Besides the foregoing and an edition of poetical selections from her writings, illustrated by Felix O. C. Darley (Philadelphia, 1848), her books include “Traits of the Aborigines of America,” a poem (Hartford, 1822); “Sketch of Connecticut Forty Years Since” (1824); “Letters to Young Ladies” (New York, 1833; 20th ed., 1853; at least five London eds.); “Letters to Mothers” (1838; several London eds.); “Pocahontas, and other Poems” (1841); “Scenes in My Native Land” (Boston, 1844); “Voice of Flowers” (Hartford, 1845); “Weeping Willow” (1846); “Water-Drops,” a plea for temperance (New York, 1847); “Whisper to a Bride” (Hartford, 1849); “Letters to My Pupils” (New York, 1850); “Olive Leaves” (1851; London, 1853); “The Faded Hope,” a memorial of her only son, who died at the age of nineteen (1852); “Past Meridian” (1854); “Lucy Howard's Journal” (1857); “The Daily Counsellor,” a volume of poetry (Hartford, 1858); “Gleanings,” from her poetical writings (1860); and “The Man of Uz, and other Poems” (1862).  Appletons’ Cylocpædia of American Biography, 1888.

Silliman, Benjamin, 1779-1864, Connecticut, educator, scientist, opponent of slavery.  Member and active supporter of the Connecticut Society of the American Colonization Society.  Supported Kansas Free State movement.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 528-529; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 1, p 160.; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 126)

SILLIMAN, Benjamin, scientist, b. in North  Stratford (now Trumbull), Conn., 8 Aug., 1779;  d. in New Haven, Conn., 24 Nov., 1864, was graduated at Yale in 1796, and, after spending a year at  home, taught at Wethersfield, Conn. In 1798 be returned to New Haven, where he began the study of law with Simeon Baldwin, and in 1799 was appointed tutor at Yale, which place he held until he was admitted to the bar in 1802.  Natural science was at that time beginning to attract the attention of educators, and, at the solicitation of President Dwight, he abandoned the profession of law and devoted himself to science. In September, 1802, he was chosen professor of chemistry and natural history at Yale, with permission to qualify himself for teaching these branches. Procuring a list of books from Prof. John MacLean (q. v.), of Princeton, he proceeded to Philadelphia, where, during two winters, he studied chemistry under Prof. James Woodhouse, then professor of chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania. In 1804 he delivered a partial course of lectures on chemistry, and during the following year he gave a complete course. He went abroad in March, 1805, to procure scientific books and apparatus, and spent about a year in study in Edinburgh and London, also visiting the continent and making the acquaintance of distinguished men of science. On his return he devoted himself to the duties of his chair, which included chemistry, mineralogy, and geology, until 1853, when he was made professor emeritus, but, at the special request of his colleagues, continued his lectures on geology until 1855, when he was succeeded by his son-in-law, James D. Dana. While in Edinburgh he became interested in the discussions, then at their height, between the Wernerians and Huttonians, and attended lectures on geology; and on his return he began a study of the mineral structure of the vicinity of New Haven. About 1808 he persuaded  the corporation of Yale to purchase the cabinet of  minerals of Benjamin D. Perkins, and a few years  later he secured the loan of the magnificent collection of George Gibbs (q. v.), which in 1825 became the property of the college. His scientific work, which was extensive, began with the examination in 1807 of the meteor that fell near Weston, Conn. He procured fragments, of which he made a chemical analysis, and he wrote the earliest and best authenticated account of the fall of a meteor in America. In 1811 he began an extended course of experiments with the oxy-hydric or compound blow-pipe that was invented by Robert Hare, and he succeeded in melting many of the most refractory minerals, notably those containing alkalies and alkaline earths, the greater part of which had never been reduced before. After Sir Humphry Davy's discovery of the metallic bases of the alkalies, Prof. Silliman repeated the experiments and obtained for the first time in this country the metals sodium and potassium. In 1822, while engaged in a series of observations on the action of a powerful voltaic battery that he had made, similar to Dr. Hare's “deflagrator,” he noticed that the charcoal points of the negative pole increased in size toward the positive pole, and, on further examination, he found that there was a corresponding cavity on the point of the latter. He inferred, therefore, that an actual transfer of the matter of the charcoal points from one to another took place, and, on careful examination, he found that the charcoal had been fused. This fact of the fusion of the carbon in the voltaic arc was long disputed in Europe, but is now universally accepted. In 1830 he explored Wyoming valley and its coal-formations, examining about one hundred mines and localities of mines; in 1832-'3 he was engaged under a commission from the secretary of the treasury in a scientific examination on the subject of the culture and manufacture of sugar, and in 1836 he made a tour of investigation among the gold-mines of Virginia, His popular lectures began in 1808 in New Haven, where he delivered a course in chemistry. He delivered his first course in Hartford in 1834, and in Lowell, Mass., in the autumn of that year. During the years that followed he lectured in Salem, Boston, New York, Baltimore, Washington, St. Louis, New Orleans, and elsewhere in the United States. In 1838 he opened the Lowell institute in Boston with a course of lectures on geology, and in the three following years he lectured there on chemistry. This series was without doubt the most brilliant of the kind was ever delivered in this country, and its influence in developing an interest in the growing science was very great. Many of the present leaders in science trace their first inspiration to these popular expositions of Prof. Silliman. Through his influence in 1830 the historical paintings of Col. John Trumbull, and the building in which they were formerly deposited (now the college treasury), were procured for Yale. He opposed slavery in all its forms. Among the various colonies sent out from the eastern states during the Kansas troubles was one that was organized in New Haven, and, at a meeting held prior to its departure in April, 1856, the discovery was made that the party was unprovided with rifles. A subscription was proposed at once, and Prof. Silliman spoke in favor of it. This insignificant action was soon noised abroad, and, owing to the strong feeling between the partisans of slavery and those opposed to it, the matter was discussed in the U. S. senate. During the civil war he was a firm supporter of President Lincoln, and exerted his influence toward the abolition of slavery. The degree of M. D. was conferred on him by Bowdoin in 1818, and that of LL. D. by Middlebury in 1826. Prof. Silliman was chosen first president in 1840 of the American association of geologists and naturalists, which has since grown into the American association for the advancement of science, and he was one of the corporate members the named by congress in the formation of the National academy of sciences in 1863. Besides his connection with other societies in this country and abroad, he was corresponding member of the Geological societies of Great Britain and France. In 1818 he founded the “American Journal of Science,” which he conducted as sole editor until 1838, and as senior editor until 1846, when he transferred the journal to his son and to James D. Dana. This journal is now the oldest scientific paper in the United States. Prof. Silliman edited three editions of William Henry's “Elements of Chemistry” (Boston, 1808-'14), also three editions of Robert Bakewell's “Introduction to Geology” (New Haven, 1829, 1833, and 1839), and was the author of “Journals of Travels in England, Holland, and Scotland” (New York, 1810); “A Short Tour between Hartford and Quebec in the Autumn of 1819” (1820); “Elements of Chemistry in the Order of Lectures given in Yale College” (2 vols., New Haven, 1830-'1); “Consistency of Discoveries of Modern Geology with the Sacred History of the Creation and Deluge” (London, 1837); and “Narrative of a Visit to Europe in 1851” (2 vols., 1853). He was called by Edward Everett the “Nestor of American Science.” Prof. Silliman was married twice. His first wife was Harriet Trumbull, the daughter of the second Gov. Jonathan Trumbull. One of his daughters married Prof. Oliver P. Hubbard, and another Prof. James D. Dana. A bronze statue of Prof. Silliman was erected on the Yale grounds in front of Farnam college in 1884. See “Life of Benjamin Silliman,” by George P. Fisher (2 vols., New York, 1866). Appletons’ Cylocpædia of American Biography, 1888.

Simmons, William, charter member of the American Colonization society, Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Skinner, judge, former Governor.  Organized and headed local auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 132)

Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874, Peterboro, New York, large landowner, reformer, philanthropist, radical abolitionist.  Supporter of the American Colonization Society (ACS).  Served as a Vice President of the ACS, 1833-1836.  Also supported the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS).  Served as a Vice President of the AASS, 1836-1840, 1840-1841.  Vice President of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, 1840.  Active in the Underground Railroad.  Member of the Liberty Party.  Member of the Pennsylvania Free Produce Association.  Secretly supported radical abolitionist John Brown.  (Blue, 2005, pp. 19, 20, 25, 26, 32-36, 50, 53, 54, 68, 101, 102, 105, 112, 132, 170; Dumond, 1961, pp. 200, 221, 231, 295, 301, 339, 352; Filler, 1960; Friedman, 1982; Frothingham, 1876; Harrold, 1995; Mabee, 1970, pp. 37, 47, 55, 56, 71, 72, 104, 106, 131, 135, 150, 154, 156, 187-189, 195, 202, 204, 219, 220, 226, 227, 237, 239, 246, 252, 253, 258, 307, 308, 315, 320, 321, 327, 342, 346; Mitchell, 2007, pp. 5, 8, 13, 16, 22, 29, 31, 36, 112, 117-121, 137, 163, 167, 199, 224-225, 243; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 46, 50, 51, 56, 138, 163, 206, 207, 327, 338, 452-454; Sernett, 2002, pp. 22, 36, 49-55, 122-126, 129-132, 143-146, 169, 171, 173-174, 205-206, 208-217, 219-230; Sorin, 1971, pp. 25-38, 47, 49, 52, 66, 95, 96, 102, 126, 130; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 128, 129, 165, 189-190, 201, 213, 221, 224, 225, 230-231; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 583-584; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 1, p. 270; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 20; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. II. New York: James T. White, 1892, pp. 322-323; Harlow, Ralph Volney. Gerrit Smith: Philanthropist and Reformer. New York: Holt, 1939.)

SMITH, Gerrit, philanthropist, b. in Utica, N. Y., 6 March, 1797; d. in New York city, 28 Dec., 1874, was graduated at Hamilton college in 1818, and devoted himself to the care of his father's estate, a large part of which was given to him when he attained his majority. At the age of fifty-six he studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He was elected to congress as an independent candidate in 1852, but resigned after serving through one session. During his boyhood slavery still existed in the state of New York, and his father was a slave-holder. One of the earliest forms of the philanthropy that marked his long life appeared in his opposition to the institution of slavery, and his friendship for the oppressed race. He acted for ten years with the American colonization society, contributing largely to its funds, until he became convinced that it was merely a scheme of the slave-holders for getting the free colored people out of the country. Thenceforth he gave his support to the Anti-slavery society, not only writing for the cause and contributing money, but taking part in conventions, and personally assisting fugitives. He was temperate in all the discussion, holding that the north was a partner in the guilt, and in the event of emancipation without war should bear a portion of the expense; but the attempt to force slavery upon Kansas convinced him that the day for peaceful emancipation was past, and he then advocated whatever measure of force might be necessary. He gave large sums of money to send free-soil settlers to Kansas, and was a personal friend of John Brown, to whom he had given a farm in Essex county, N.Y., that he might instruct a colony of colored people, to whom Mr. Smith had given farms in the same neighborhood. He was supposed to be implicated in the Harper's Ferry affair, but it was shown that he had only given pecuniary aid to Brown as he had to scores of other men, and so far as he knew Brown's plans had tried to dissuade him from them. Mr. Smith was deeply interested in the cause of temperance, and organized an anti-dramshop party in February, 1842. In the village of Peterboro, Madison co., where he had his home, he built a good hotel, and gave it rent-free to a tenant who agreed that no liquor should be sold there. This is believed to have been the first temperance hotel ever established. But it was not pecuniarily successful. He had been nominated for president by an industrial congress at Philadelphia in 1848, and by the land-reformers in 1856, but declined. In 1840, and again in 1858, he was nominated for governor of New York. The last nomination, on a platform of abolition and prohibition, he accepted, and canvassed the state. In the election he received 5,446 votes. Among the other reforms in which he was interested were those relating to the property-rights of married women and female suffrage and abstention from tobacco. In religion he was originally a Presbyterian, but became very liberal in his views, and built a non-sectarian church in Peterboro, in which he often occupied the pulpit himself. He could not conceive of religion as anything apart from the affairs of daily life, and in one of his published letters he wrote: “No man's religion is better than his politics; his religion is pure whose politics are pure; whilst his religion is rascally whose politics are rascally.” He disbelieved in the right of men to monopolize land, and gave away thousands of acres of that which he had inherited, some of it to colleges and charitable institutions, and some in the form of small farms to men who would settle upon them. He also gave away by far the greater part of his income, for charitable purposes, to institutions and individuals. In the financial crisis of 1837 he borrowed of John Jacob Astor a quarter of a million dollars, on his verbal agreement to give Mr. Astor mortgages to that amount on real estate. The mortgages were executed as soon as Mr. Smith reached his home, but through the carelessness of a clerk were not delivered, and Mr. Astor waited six months before inquiring for them. Mr. Smith had for many years anticipated that the system of slavery would be brought to an end only through violence, and when the civil war began he hastened to the support of the government with his money and his influence. At a war-meeting in April, 1861, he made a speech in which he said: “The end of American slavery is at hand. The first gun fired at Fort Sumter announced the fact that the last fugitive slave had been returned. . . . The armed men who go south should go more in sorrow than in anger. The sad necessity should be their only excuse for going. They must still love the south; we must all still love her. As her chiefs shall, one after another, fall into our hands, let us be restrained from dealing revengefully, and moved to deal tenderly with them, by our remembrance of the large share which the north has had in blinding them.” In accordance with this sentiment, two years after the war, he united with Horace Greeley and Cornelius Vanderbilt in signing the bail-bond of Jefferson Davis. At the outset he offered to equip a regiment of colored men, if the government would accept them. Mr. Smith left an estate of about $1,000,000, having given away eight times that amount during his life. He wrote a great deal for print, most of which appeared in the form of pamphlets and broadsides, printed on his own press in Peterboro. His publications in book-form were “Speeches in Congress” (1855); “Sermons and Speeches” (1861); “The Religion of Reason” (1864); “Speeches and Letters” (1865); “The Theologies” (2d ed., 1866); “Nature the Base of a Free Theology” (1867); and “Correspondence with Albert Barnes” (1868). His authorized biography has been written by Octavius B. Frothingham (New York, 1878).  Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 583-584.

Smith, Hugh C., Manager, 1833-34.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Smith, John C., Sharon, Connecticut, Vice-President, American Colonization Society, 1833-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Smith, Richard H., Treasurer, American Colonization Society, 1833-34.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 189-190)

Smith, Samuel Harrison, Washington, Maryland, soldier, general.  Vice-President, American Colonization Society (ACS), 1833-41.  Original co-founding member of the ACS in Washington, DC, in December 1816.  Vice President of the Maryland Society of the ACS.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 15, 30, 111, 208) 

Soule, Bishop, Maryland, clergyman.  Vice President of the Maryland Society of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 111)

Southard, Samuel Lewis, 1787-1842, Trenton, New Jersey, attorney.  Whig U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, 1823-1829.  American Colonization Society, Vice-President, 1834-1841.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 613; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 1, p. 411; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

SOUTHARD, Samuel Lewis, senator, b. in Baskingridge, N. J., 9 June, 1787; d. in Fredericksburg, Va., 26 June, 1842, was graduated at Princeton in 1804, taught in his native state, and then went to Virginia as tutor in the family of John Taliaferro. After studying law and being admitted to the bar in that state, he returned to New Jersey and settled at Remington. He was appointed law-reporter by the legislature in 1814, became associate justice of the state supreme court in 1815, was a presidential elector in 1820, and was chosen to the U. S. senate as a Whig in place of James J. Wilson, who had resigned, serving from 16 Feb., 1821, till 3 March, 1823. In 1821 he met his father on a joint committee, and they voted together on the Missouri compromise. In September, 1823, he became secretary of the navy, and he served till 3 March, 1829, acting also as secretary of the treasury from 7 March till 1 July, 1825, and taking charge of the portfolio of war for a time. When he was dining with Chief-Justice Kirkpatrick, of New Jersey, soon after his appointment to the navy, the judge, aware of his ignorance of nautical affairs, said: “Now, Mr. Southard, can you honestly assert that you know the bow from the stern of a frigate?” On his retirement from the secretaryship of the navy in 1829 he became attorney-general of New Jersey, and in 1832 he was elected governor of the state. He was c hosen U. S. senator again in 1833, and served till his resignation on 3 May, 1842. In 1841, on the death of President Harrison and the consequent accession of John Tyler, he became president of the senate. He was made a trustee of Princeton in 1822, and in 1833 the University of Pennsylvania gave him the degree of LL. D. Mr. Southard published “Reports of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1816-'20” (2 vols., Trenton, 1819-'20), and numerous addresses, including a “Centennial Address” (1832), and “Discourse on William Wirt” (Washington, 1834).—Samuel Lewis's son, SAMUEL LEWIS, clergyman (1819-'59), was graduated at Princeton in 1836, and took orders in the Protestant Episcopal church. He published “The Mystery of Godliness,” a series of sermons (New York, 1848), and single discourses.  Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Southgate, Edward, Reverend, Kentucky.  Agent for the American Colonization Society (ACS) in Kentucky.  Worked with Robert S. Finley of the ACS.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 145)

Spring, Gardiner, 1785-1873, Newburyport, Massachusetts, New York, clergyman, lawyer, author. American Colonization Society, Director, 1839-1840.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 639-640; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 17)

Staughton, William, Reverend, 1770-1829, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, clergyman, Baptist educator.  Founding officer of the Philadelphia auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 654-655; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 1, p. 539; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 39)

STAUGHTON, William, clergyman, b. in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, 4 Jan., 1770; d. in Washington, D. C., 12 Dec., 1829. He was graduated at the Baptist theological institution, Bristol, in 1792, and the next year came to this country, landing at Charleston. After preaching for more than a year at Georgetown, S. C., he removed to New York city, and thence to New Jersey, residing for some time at Bordentown, where, in 1797, he was ordained, and then at Burlington. At the latter place he remained until 1805, when he accepted a call to the pastorate of the 1st Baptist church of Philadelphia. After a successful ministry there of six years, he identified himself with a new enterprise, which resulted in the formation of a church and the erection of a large house of worship on Sansom street. His pastorate of this church, extending from 1811 till 1822, was one of great success. Besides preaching regularly three times on Sunday and once or twice during the week, he was the principal of a Baptist theological school. In 1822 he was called to the presidency of Columbian college, D. C., which office he resigned in 1827, and was elected in 1829 president of Georgetown college, Ky. He died in Washington, while on his way to this new field of service. He was probably the most eloquent Baptist minister of his time in this country. He received from Princeton the degree of D. D. in 1801. Besides a volume of poems, which he issued when he was seventeen years old, his publications consisted of a few occasional sermons and discourses, among them “Eulogium on Dr. Benjamin Rush” (1813). See a “Memoir” by Rev. S. W. Lynd (Boston, 1834). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Stockton, Robert Field, Lieutenant, U.S. Navy.  Supported African colonization and the American Colonization Society.  Assigned to the U.S. Navy schooner on its expedition to establish a colony in Africa.  (Burin, 2005, pp. 15, 141; Campbell, 1971, pp. 8, 21; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 694-695; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 16, 57, 63-66, 85, 157)

STOCKTON, Robert Field, naval officer, b. in Princeton, N. J., 20 Aug., 1795; d. there, 7 Oct., 1866, studied at Princeton college, but before completing his course he entered the U. S. navy as a midshipman, 1 Sept., 1811. He joined the frigate “President” at Newport, 14 Feb., 1812, and made several cruises in that ship with Com. Rodgers, with whom he went as aide to the “Guerrière” at Philadelphia; but, as the ship was unable to go to sea, Rodgers took his crew to assist in defending Baltimore. Before the arrival of the British, Stockton went to Washington and became the aide of the secretary of the navy, after which he resumed his post with Com. Rodgers and took part in the operations at Alexandria. He then went with Rodgers to Baltimore and had command of 300 sailors in the defence of that city against the British army. He was highly commended, and promoted to lieutenant, 9 Sept., 1814. On 18 May, 1815, he sailed in the “Guerrière,” Decatur's flag-ship, for the Mediterranean after the declaration of war with Algiers, but he was transferred soon afterward to the schooner “Spitfire” as 1st lieutenant, in which vessel he participated in the capture of the Algerine frigate “Mahouda,” and led the boarders at the capture of the Algerine brig “Esledio” in June, 1815. In February, 1816, he joined the ship-of-the-line “Washington” and made another cruise in the Mediterranean, in the course of which he was transferred to the ship “Erie,” of which he soon became executive officer. The American officers very often had disputes with British officers, and frequent duels took place. At one time in Gibraltar, Stockton had accepted challenges to fight all the captains of the British regiment in the garrison, and several meetings took place. In one case after wounding his adversary he escaped arrest by knocking one of the guard from his horse, which he seized and rode to his boat. Stockton came home in command of the “Erie” in 1821. Shortly after his return the American colonization society obtained his services to command the schooner “Alligator” for the purpose of founding a colony on the west coast of Africa. He sailed in the autumn of 1821, and after skilful diplomatic conferences obtained a concession of a tract of territory near Cape Mesurado, which has since become the republic of Liberia. In November, 1821, the Portuguese letter-of-marque “Mariana Flora” fired on the “Alligator,” which she mistook for a pirate. After an engagement of twenty minutes the Portuguese vessel was taken and the capture was declared legal, though the prize was returned by courtesy to Portugal. On a subsequent cruise in the “Alligator” he captured the French slaver “Jeune Eugenie,” by which action the right to seize slavers under a foreign flag was first established as legal. He also captured several piratical vessels in the West Indies. From 1826 until December, 1838, he was on leave, and resided at Princeton, N. J. He organized the New Jersey colonization society, became interested in the turf, and imported from England some of the finest stock of blooded horses. He also took an active part in politics, and became interested in the Delaware and Raritan canal, for which he obtained the charter that had originally been given to a New York company, and vigorously prosecuted the work. His whole fortune and that of his family were invested in the enterprise, which was completed, notwithstanding the opposition of railroads and a financial crisis, by which he was obliged to go to Europe to negotiate a loan. He retained his interest in this canal during his life, and the work stands as an enduring monument to his energy and enterprise. In December, 1838, he sailed with Com. Isaac Hull in the flag-ship “Ohio” as fleet-captain of the Mediterranean squadron, being promoted to captain on 8 Dec. He returned in the latter part of 1839, and took part in the presidential canvass of 1840 in favor of Gen. William Henry Harrison. After John Tyler became president, Stockton was offered a seat in the cabinet as secretary of the navy, which he declined. The U. S. steamer “Princeton” (see ERICSSON, JOHN) was built under his supervision, and launched at Philadelphia early in 1844. He was appointed to command the ship, and brought her to Washington for the inspection of officials and members of congress. On a trial-trip down the Potomac river, when the president, cabinet, and a distinguished company were on board, one of the large guns burst and killed the secretary of state, secretary of the navy, the president’s father-in-law, and several of the crew, while a great many were seriously injured. A naval court of inquiry entirely exonerated Capt. Stockton. Shortly after this event he sailed in the “Princeton” as bearer of the annexation resolutions to the government of Texas. In October, 1845, he went in the frigate “Congress” from Norfolk to serve as commander-in-chief of the Pacific squadron, on the eve of the Mexican war. He sailed around Cape Horn to the Sandwich islands, and thence to Monterey, where he found the squadron in possession under Com. John D. Sloat, whom Stockton relieved. News of the war had been received by the squadron before his arrival, and Monterey and San Francisco were captured. Stockton assumed command of all American forces on the coast by proclamation, 23 July, 1846. He organized a battalion of Americans in California and naval brigades from the crews of the ships. Col. John C. Frémont also co-operated with him. He sent Frémont in the “Cyane” to San Diego, while he landed at Santa Barbara and marched thirty miles with the naval brigade to the Mexican capital of California, the city of Los Angeles, of which he took possession on 13 Aug. He then organized a civil government for the state, and appointed Col. Frémont governor. Rumors of a rising of the Indians compelled him to return to the north in September. The force that he left at Los Angeles was besieged by the Mexicans in his absence, and Stockton was obliged to sail to San Diego after finding all quiet in the northern part of California. The Mexicans had also recaptured San Diego. He landed at that place, drove out the enemy, and sent a force to the rescue of Gen. Stephen W. Kearny, who had been defeated by the Mexicans on the way to San Diego. Gen. Kearny, with sixty dragoons, then served under Stockton’s orders, and the force proceeded to Los Angeles, 150 miles distant. An engagement took place at San Gabriel on 8 Jan., 1847, followed by the battle of La Mesa the next day, in which the Mexicans were routed. Col. Frémont had raised an additional force of Californians, by which the force under Stockton amounted to more than 1,000 men. Negotiations were opened with the Mexican governor, and the entire province of California was ceded to the United States and evacuated by the Mexican authorities. The treaty with Mexico was subsequently confirmed. Gen. Kearny raised a dispute with Stockton for his assumption of command over military forces, but Stockton's course was sustained by virtue of his conquest. On 17 Jan., 1847, he returned to San Diego, and then sailed to Monterey, where he was relieved by Com. William B. Shubrick. Stockton returned home overland during the summer. He was the recipient of honors by all parties, and the legislature of New Jersey gave him a vote of thanks and a reception. The people of California, in recognition of his services, named for him the city of Stockton, and also one of the principal streets of San Francisco. On 28 May, 1850, he resigned from the navy in order to settle his father-in-law’s estate in South Carolina and attend to his private interests. He continued to take part in politics, was elected to the U. S. senate, and took his seat, 1 Dec., 1851, but resigned, 10 Jan., 1853, and retired to private life. During his brief service in the senate he introduced and advocated the bill by which flogging was abolished in the navy. He also urged measures for coast defence. After he resigned from the senate he devoted himself to the development of the Delaware and Raritan canal, of which he was president until his death. He continued to take an interest in politics, became an ardent supporter of the “American” party, and was a delegate to the Peace congress that met in Washington, 13 Feb., 1861. See his “Life and Speeches” (New York, 1856). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Stone, William Leete, 1792-1844, New York, author, newspaper editor, American Colonization Society (ACS), Executive Committee, 1839-1840.  Officer in the New York City auxiliary of the ACS.  Advocated the abolition of slavery by Congress.  Published anti-slavery articles in his newspapers.  Drafted petition for emancipation of slaves at the Anti-Slavery Convention in Baltimore in 1825.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 705; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 2, p. 90; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 73, 135)

STONE, William Leete, author, b. in New Paltz, N. Y., 20 April, 1792; d. in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., 15 Aug., 1844. His father, William, was a soldier of the Revolution and afterward a Presbyterian clergyman, who was a descendant of Gov. William Leete. The son removed to Sodus, N. Y., in 1808, where he assisted his father in the care of a farm. The country was at that time a wilderness, and the adventures of young Stone during his early pioneer life formed material that he afterward wrought into border tales. At the age of seventeen he became a printer in the office of the Cooperstown “Federalist,” and in 1813 he was editor of the Herkimer “American,” with Thurlow Weed as his journeyman. Subsequently he edited the “Northern Whig” at Hudson, N. Y., and in 1817 the Albany “Daily Advertiser.” In 1818 he succeeded Theodore Dwight in the editorship of the Hartford “Mirror.” While at Hartford, Jonathan M. Wainwright (afterward bishop), Samuel G. Goodrich (Peter Parley), Isaac Toucey, and himself alternated in editing a literary magazine called “The Knights of the Round Table.” He also edited while at Hudson “The Lounger,” a literary periodical which was noted for its pleasantry and wit. In 1821 he succeeded Zachariah Lewis in the editorship of the New York “Commercial Advertiser,” becoming at the same time one of its proprietors, which place he held until his death. Brown university gave him the degree of A. M. in 1825. Mr. Stone always advocated in its columns the abolition of slavery by congressional action, and at the great anti-slavery convention at Baltimore in 1825 he originated and drew up the plan for slave emancipation which was recommended at that time to congress for adoption. In 1824 his sympathies were strongly enlisted in behalf of the Greeks in their struggles for independence, and, with Edward Everett and Dr. Samuel G. Howe, was among the first to draw the attention of the country to that people and awaken sympathy in their behalf. In 1825, with Thurlow Weed, he accompanied Lafayette on his tour through part of the United States. He was appointed by President Harrison minister to the Hague, but was recalled by Tyler. Soon after the Morgan tragedy (see MORGAN, WILLIAM) Mr. Stone, who was a Freemason, addressed a series of letters on “Masonry and Anti-Masonry” to John Quincy Adams, who in his retirement at Quincy had taken interest in the anti-Masonic movement. In these letters, which were afterward collected and published (New York, 1832), the author maintained that Masonry should be abandoned, chiefly because it had lost its usefulness. The writer also cleared away the mists of slander that had gathered around the name of De Witt Clinton, and by preserving strict impartiality he secured that credence which no ex-parte argument could obtain, however ingenious. In 1838 he originated and introduced a resolution in the New York historical society directing a memorial to be addressed to the New York legislature praying for the appointment of an historical mission to the governments of England and Holland for the recovery of such papers and documents as were essential to a correct understanding of the colonial history of the state. This was the origin of the collection known as the “New York Colonial Documents” made by John Romeyn Brodhead, who was sent abroad for that purpose by Gov. William H. Seward in the spring of 1841. He was the first superintendent of public schools in New York city, and while holding the office, in 1844, had a discussion with Archbishop Hughes in relation to the use of the Bible in the public schools. Although the influence of Col. Stone (as he was familiarly called, from having held that rank on Gov. Clinton's staff) extended throughout the country, it was felt more particularly in New York city. He was active in religious enterprises and benevolent associations. His works are “History of the Great Albany Constitutional Convention of 1821” (Albany, 1822); “Narrative of the Grand Erie Canal Celebration,” prepared at the request of the New York common council (New York, 1825); “Tales and Sketches,” founded on aboriginal and Revolutionary traditions. (2 vols., 1834); “Matthias and His Impostures” (1833); “Maria Monk and the Nunnery of the Hotel Dieu,” which put an end to an extraordinary mania (see MONK, MARIA) (1836); “Ups and Downs in the Life of a Distressed Gentleman,” a satire on the fashionable follies of the day (1836); “Border Wars of the American Revolution” (1837); “Life of Joseph Brant” (1838); “Letters on Animal Magnetism” (1838); “Life of Red Jacket” (1840; new ed., with memoir of the author by his son, William L. Stone, 1866); “Poetry and History of Wyoming,” including Thomas Campbell's “Gertrude of Wyoming” (1841; with index, Albany, 1864); and “Uncas and Miantonomoh”(1842).  Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Strong, C. B., Putnam County, Georgia, judge, Supreme Courts of Georgia.  Member of the Putnam County auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

Stull, John I., charter member of the American Colonization Society, Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 27, 258n14)

Sturges, Daniel, Milledgeville, Georgia.  Member of the Milledgeville auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

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Tallmadge, Nathaniel P., New York, New York, politician.  Officer in the New York auxiliary of the American Colonization society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 129)

Tappan, Arthur, 1786-1865, New York City, merchant, radical abolitionist leader, educator.  Co-founder and president of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), December 1833.  Manager, 1833-1837, and Member of the Executive Committee, 1833-1840 of the AASS. President of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, 1840-1855, Member of the Executive Committee, 1840-1855.  (Blue, 2005; Burin, 2005, pp. 84, 89; Dumond, 1961, p. 286; Filler, 1960, pp. 26, 40, 55, 58, 60-61, 63-64, 68, 84, 132, 262; Harrold, 1995; Mabee, 1970, pp. 4, 8, 9, 14-18, 21, 38-41, 44, 48, 51, 55, 71, 107, 129, 134, 151, 152, 153, 200, 234, 235, 242, 285, 293, 340; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 42, 106, 161, 162, 163, 166, 320, 362; Sorin, 1971, pp. 73, 75, 102, 114; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 33; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 2, p. 209; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 21, p. 311; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. II. New York: James T. White, 1892, pp. 320-321; Tappan, Lewis. Life of Arthur Tappan. New York, Hurd and Houghton: 1870; Hinks, Peter P., & John R. McKivigan, Eds., Encyclopedia of Antislavery and Abolition.  Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood, 2007, Vol. 2, pp. 671-673; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 128, 131, 161, 163-165, 189-190)

TAPPAN, Arthur, b. in Northampton, Mass., 22 May, 1786; d. in New Haven, Conn., 23 July, 1865, was locked up while an infant in a folding bedstead. When he was discovered life was almost extinct, and headaches, to which he was subject daily through life, were ascribed to this accident. He received a common-school education, and served a seven years' apprenticeship in the hardware business in Boston, after which he established himself in Portland, Me., and subsequently in Montreal, Canada, where he remained until the beginning of the war of 1812. In 1814 he engaged with his brother Lewis in importing British dry-goods into New York city, and after the partnership was dissolved he successfully continued the business alone. Mr. Tappan was known for his public spirit and philanthropy. He was a fouder of the American tract society, the largest donor for the erection of its first building, and was identified with many charitable and religious bodies. He was a founder of Oberlin college, also erecting Tappan hall there, and endowed Lane seminary in Cincinnati, and a professorship at Auburn theological seminary. With his brother Lewis he founded the New York “Journal of Commerce” in 1828, and established “The Emancipator” in 1833, paying the salary of the editor and all the expenses of its publication. He was an ardent Abolitionist, and as the interest in the anti-slavery cause deepened he formed, at his own rooms, the nucleus of the New York city anti-slavery society, which was publicly organized under his presidency at Clinton hall on 2 Oct., 1833. Mr. Tappan was also president of the American anti-slavery society, to which he contributed $1,000 a month for several years, but he withdrew in 1840 on account of the aggressive spirit that many members manifested toward the churches and the Union. During the crisis of 1837 he was forced to suspend payments, and he became bankrupt in 1842. During his late years he was connected with the mercantile agency that his brother Lewis established. He incurred the hatred of the southern slave-holders by his frequent aid to fugitives, and by his rescuing William Lloyd Garrison from imprisonment at Baltimore. See his “Life,” by Lewis Tappan (New York, 1871). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 33.

Tappan, Charles, Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Member of the Massachusetts Abolition Society and the American Colonization Society. (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 131, 195-196)

Tappan, John, Boston, Massachusetts, member of the American Colonization Society Committee in Boston.  (Campbell, 1971, p. 94; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 86, 130)

Tappan, Lewis Northey, 1788-1873, New York, NY, merchant, radical abolitionist leader.  Co-founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.  Member of the Executive Committee of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, 1840-1855, Treasurer, 1840-1842, Secretary, 1842-1844, Corresponding Secretary, 1845-1846, 1848-1855.  Leader of the Philadelphia Free Produce Association.  Wrote Life. (Blue, 2005; Burin, 2005, p. 89; Dumond, 1961, pp. 159, 218, 287; Filler, 1960, pp. 26, 31, 50, 55, 61, 63, 68, 72, 94, 102, 130, 136, 138, 144, 150, 152, 158, 164, 165, 168, 174, 177, 189, 194, 210, 247, 262; Harrold, 1995; Mabee, 1970, pp. 8, 9, 13-19, 21, 24, 26, 38, 42-49, 51, 55, 58, 91, 93, 104, 105, 130, 190, 151-156, 190, 202, 219-221, 226-229, 233, 234, 251-253, 257, 334, 340, 341, 343, 344, 345; Mitchell, 2007; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 42, 106, 161, 162, 163, 166, 174, 290, 362; Sorin, 1971, pp. 70, 93, 96, 102, 113, 114, 131; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 32-34; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 2, p. 203; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 21, p. 311; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. II. New York: James T. White, 1892, p. 321; Tappan, Lewis. Life of Arthur Tappan. New York, Hurd and Houghton: 1870; Hinks, Peter P., & John R. McKivigan, Eds., Encyclopedia of Antislavery and Abolition.  Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood, 2007, Vol. 2, pp. 673-675; Wyatt-Brown, Bertram, Lewis Tappan and the Evangelical War against Slavery, 1969; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 76, 128-129, 219, 228, 230)

TAPPAN, Lewis, merchant, b. in Northampton, Mass., 23 May, 1788; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 21 June, 1873, received a good education, and at the age of sixteen became clerk in a dry-goods house in Boston. His employers subsequently aided him in establishing himself in business, and he became interested m calico-print works and in the manufacture of cotton. In 1827 he removed to New York and became a member of the firm of Arthur Tappan and Co., and his subsequent career was closely identified with that of his brother Arthur. With the latter he established in 1828 the “Journal of Commerce,” of which he became sole owner in 1829. In 1833 he entered with vigor into the anti-slavery movement, in consequence of which his house was sacked and his furniture was destroyed by a mob in July, 1834, and at other times he and his brother suffered personal violence. He was also involved in the crisis of 1837, and afterward withdrew from the firm and established the first mercantile agency in the country, which he conducted with success. He was chief founder of the American missionary association, of which he was treasurer and afterward president, and was an early member of Plymouth church, Brooklyn. He published the life of his brother mentioned above, but afterward joined in the free-soil movement at its inception. He was widely known for his drollery and wit and for his anti-slavery sentiments. Judge Tappan published “Cases decided in the Court of Common Pleas,” with an appendix (Steubenville, 1831). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 32-34.

Tattnal, Edward R., Savannah, Georgia.  Member of the Savannah auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Son of former Governor Josias Tattnal.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

Taylor, John, founding charter member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Taylor, John Louis, 1769-1829, Raleigh, North Carolina, jurist.  Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.  Officer in the Raleigh auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Burin, 2005, p. 14; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 46; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 2, p. 334; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 71, 108)

TAYLOR, John Louis, jurist, b. in London, England, 1 March, 1769; d. in Raleigh, N. C., 29 Jan., 1829. He was brought to the United States at the age of twelve by a brother, his father having died. He was for two years at William and Mary college, then removed to North Carolina, studied law, and, after being admitted to the bar, settled in Fayetteville, which he represented in the legislature in 1792-'4. He removed to New Berne in 1796, and in 1798 was elected a judge of the superior court. In 1808 he was chosen by his colleagues to preside over the supreme court, which was then composed of judges of the superior court who met at Raleigh to review questions that arose on the circuits. When a new tribunal was instituted in 1818 he was appointed one of the judges, and continued as chief justice till his death. In 1817 he was appointed a commissioner to revise the statute laws of North Carolina. The work was completed and published in 1821, and a continuation by Judge Taylor appeared in 1825. He began to take notes of cases that came before him soon after he was elevated to the bench. His publications include “Cases in the Superior Courts of Law and Equity of the State of North Carolina” (New Berne, 1802); “The North Carolina Law Repository” (2 vols., 1814-'16); “Charge to the Grand Jury of Edgecombe, exhibiting a View of the Criminal Law” (1817); “Term Reports” (Raleigh, 1818); and a treatise “On the Duties of Executors and Administrators” (1825). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Teague, Colin, Richmond, Virginia.  Went to Africa as missionary in support of the American Colonization Society.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 109)

Thatcher, Benjamin Bussey, 1809-1840, Boston, Massachusetts, author.  Co-founder of the Young Men’s Colonization Society of Boston.  Published and edited, in 1833, The Colonizationist and Journal of Freedom, published monthly.  Defended the American Colonization Society and colonization.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 70-71; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 2, p. 393; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 201, 204, 210, 223)

THATCHER, Benjamin Bussey, author, b. in Warren, Me., 8 Oct., 1809; d. in Boston, 14 July, 1840. His father, Samuel, a graduate of Harvard in 1793 and a lawyer, represented Massachusetts in congress in 1802-'5, serving afterward eleven years in the legislature. He was a trustee of Harvard and a founder of Warren academy. The son, upon his graduation at Bowdoin in 1826, studied law and was admitted to the bar in Boston, but devoted himself to literature. In 1836-'8 he travelled in Europe for his health, contributing during the time to British and American periodicals. He wrote for the “North American Review” in 1831, and contributed to the “Essayist” several critiques on American poets which attracted notice. He edited the “Boston Book” in 1837, the “Colonizationist,” a periodical in the interests of the Liberian cause, which he further aided by eloquent speeches, and a volume of Mrs. Hemans's poems, to which he contributed a preface. He left in manuscript an account of his residence in Europe. His poems, some of which are in Griswold's “Poets and Poetry of America” (1842), and his reviews and essays, have never been collected. He published “Biography of North American Indians” (2 vols., New York, 1832; new ed., 1842); “Memoir of Phillis Wheatley” (Boston, 1834); “Memoir of S. Osgood Wright” (1834); “Traits of the Boston Tea-Party” (1835)”; “Traits of Indian Manners, etc.” (1835); and “Tales of the American Revolution” (1846). Appletons’ Cylocpædia of American Biography, 1888.

Thomas, Phillip Evan, 1776-1861, Baltimore, Maryland, merchant, banker, Quaker, social activist.  Vice-President, 1833-40, member of the Baltimore auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Co-founder of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 85; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 2, p. 442; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 70, 111)

THOMAS, Philip Evan, merchant, b. in Mount Radnor, Montgomery co., Md., 11 Nov., 1776; d. in Yonkers, N. Y., 1 Sept., 1861. His ancestor, Philip, came to this country from Wales in 1651, and was a member of the Society of Friends. The son settled in Baltimore, Md., and in 1800 established himself in the hardware business. He was president of the Mechanics’ bank for many years, and president of the Maryland Bible society. He was a member of the Indian committee from the Baltimore yearly meeting of Quakers to the Indians at Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1804, and through his efforts the intrigues of the Ogden land company with the chiefs to dispossess the remnant of the Six Nations of their reservations in western New York were defeated, the chiefs were deposed, and a republican form of government was established. Mr. Thomas was an originator of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, resigning his post as director of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal to give his attention to this enterprise. He was the first president of the company, which office he resigned in 1836. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Thompson, Jeremiah, 1784-1835, New York, ship magnate, cotton exporter.  Officer of the New York auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 2, p. 461; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 40)

Thompson, Phishey, Washington, DC, Treasurer, American Colonization Society, 1839-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

Thornton, William, 1761-1828, from West Indian island of Tortola, physician, architect, inventor, public official, humanitarian, reformer, Society of Friends, Quaker, abolitionist.  Founding member and Board of Managers, American Colonization Society.  Early advocate of Black colonization, active in colonization activities; a former slave holder, he returned his slaves to Africa. (Burin, 2005, p. 9; Drake, 1950, pp. 123-124; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 104-105; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 2, p. 504; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 21, p. 609; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 5-13, 26, 66; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 5-8, 7-13, 66, 91)

THORNTON, William, superintendent of the patent-office, b. in Tortola, W. I.; d. in Washington, D. C., in 1827. He was educated as a physician, and lived for many years in Philadelphia, where he was well known in the circle of scientific men, being chosen a member of the American philosophical society on 19 Jan., 1787. He was a skilled architect, and designed the Philadelphia library building, which was completed in 1790. He removed to Washington, D. C., when the seat of government was transferred to that place, and drew the plans and superintended the erection of the first capitol building in its early stages. He was one of the first to act as commissioner of public buildings, and was the first head of the patent-office, being appointed superintendent in 1802, and serving till the time of his death. He published “Cadmus, or the Elements of Written Language” (Philadelphia, 1793). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Tiernan, Luke, Baltimore, Maryland.  Original founder and leader of the Maryland State Colonization Society.  (Campbell, 1971, p. 192)

Tifflin, Edward, 1766-1829, Ohio, statesman, clergyman, Governor of Ohio.  Strong supporter of the American Colonization Society and colonization.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 114; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 2, p. 535; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 138)

TIFFIN, Edward, statesman, b. in Carlisle, England, 19 June, 1766; d. in Chillicothe, Ohio, 9 Aug., 1829. After receiving an ordinary English education, he began the study of medicine, and continued it after his removal to Charlestown, Va., in 1784, receiving his degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1789. In the same year he married Mary, sister of Gov. Thomas Worthington. In 1790 he united with the Methodist church, and soon afterward he became a local preacher, being ordained deacon, by Bishop Asbury, 19 Nov., 1792. In 1796 he removed to Chillicothe, Ohio, where he continued both to preach and to practise medicine. At Deer Creek, twelve miles distant, he organized a flourishing congregation, long before that part of the country was visited by travelling preachers. In 1799 he was chosen to the legislature of the Northwest territory, of which he was elected speaker, and in 1802 he was president of the convention that formed the constitution of the state of Ohio. He was elected the first governor of the state in 1803, and re-elected two years later. During his second term he arrested the expedition of Aaron Burr, near Marietta, Ohio. After the expiration of his service he was chosen U. S. senator, to succeed his brother-in-law, Thomas Worthington, and took his seat in December, 1807, but early in the following year his wife died, and on 3 March, 1809, he resigned from the senate and retired to private life. Shortly afterward he married again, and was elected to the legislature, serving two terms as speaker. In the autumn of 1810 he resumed the practice of medicine at Chillicothe, and in 1812, on the creation by act of congress of a commissionership of the general land-office, he was appointed by President Madison as its first incumbent. He removed to Washington, organized the system that has continued in the land-office till the present time, and in 1814 was active in the removal of his papers to Virginia, whereby the entire contents of his office were saved from destruction by the British. Wishing to return to the west, he proposed to Josiah Meigs, surveyor-general of public lands northwest of Ohio river, that they should exchange offices, which was done, after the consent of the president and senate had been obtained. This post he held till 1 July, 1829, when he received, on his death-bed, an order from President Jackson to deliver the office to a successor. Dr. Tiffin continued to preach occasionally in his later years. Three of his sermons were published in the “Ohio Conference Offering” in 1851. In a letter of introduction to Gen. Arthur St. Clair, Gen. Washington speaks of Dr. Tiffin as being “very familiar with law.” Appletons’ Cylocpædia of American Biography, 1888.

Todd, John D., founding charter member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, in December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Tomlinson, Gideon, 1780-1854, Connecticut, politician, lawyer, U.S. Senator, Congressman, Governor of Connecticut.  Member of the Connecticut Society of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 129; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 126)

TOMLINSON, Gideon, senator, b. in Stratford, Conn., 31 Dec., 1780; d. in Fairfield, Conn., 8 Oct., 1854. His grandfather was an officer at the capture of Ticonderoga. He was graduated at Yale in 1802, became a lawyer, and practised at Fairfield. He was elected a member of congress in 1818, serving from 1819 till 1827. He was chosen governor of Connecticut in that year, and continued in this office till 1831, when he resigned and was elected U. S. senator, serving till 1837. Appletons’ Cylocpædia of American Biography, 1888.

Tracy, Joseph, 1793-1874, Vermont, clergyman, newspaper editor.  Editor of the Vermont Chronicle and the Boston Recorder.  Secretary for the Massachusetts Colonization Society.  Supported the American Colonization Society and colonization.  Highly active in the founding of Liberia College.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 152; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 2, p. 623; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 212, 240, 308)

TRACY, Joseph, clergyman, b. in Hartford, Vt., 3 Nov., 1794; d. in Beverly, Mass., 24 March, 1874. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1814, studied divinity, and was pastor of the Congregational churches in West Thetford and West Fairlee, Vt., from 1821 till 1829. He subsequently edited the “Chronicle” at Windsor, Vt., for five years, and the Boston “Recorder” for one year. He then became secretary of the Massachusetts colonization society, and of the American colonization society for Massachusetts, which posts he held until his death. The University of Vermont gave him the degree of D. D. in 1859. He was associated with Prof. Henry B. Smith for several years in the editorship of the “American Theological Review.” He published “Three Last Things” (Boston, 1839); “The Great Awakening, a History of the Revival of Religion in the Time of Edwards and Whitefield” (New York, 1842); “History of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions” (1842); “Refutation of Charges against the Sandwich Island Missionaries” (Boston, 1844); and “A Memorial of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the American Colonization Society” (1867). Appletons’ Cylocpædia of American Biography, 1888.

Tracy, Myron, Hartford, Vermont, clergyman.  Agent in New England for the American Colonization Society.  Traveled in Massachusetts and Vermont.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 122-123, 130)

Travers, George, founding charter member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, in December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Tuckerman, Henry Tuckerman, 1813-1871, Boston, Massachusetts, author.  Co-founder of the Young Men’s Colonization Society in Boston.  Co-founded monthly paper, The Colonizationist and Journal of Freedom.  He defended the American Colonization Society and its policies against criticism by William Lloyd Garrison.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 177; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 45; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 204)

TUCKERMAN, Henry Theodore, author, b. in Boston, Mass., 20 April, 1813; d. in New York city, 17 Dec., 1871, was prepared to enter college, but the condition of his health compelled a cessation of study, and in 1833 he went to Europe, where he remained nearly a year, passing most of the time in Italy. “The Italian Sketch-Book” (Philadelphia, 1835) was the fruit of his sojourn abroad. His academical studies were resumed on his return, but were again relinquished, and he made a second voyage to Europe in 1837, remaining abroad until the summer of 1839. This journey embraced a tour of Sicily and lengthened residences in Palermo and Florence. The literary outcome of this second trip was “Isabel, or Sicily: a Pilgrimage” (1839). With greatly improved health, he now devoted himself to letters, and was for years a regular and frequent contributor to periodicals. These writings were in due course collected and published at intervals. Scholarly taste, wide reading, and varied learning are displayed in these numerous compositions. The criticisms are well tempered and sympathetic; the sentiments are wholesome; the style, if perhaps lacking in vigor, is graceful, melodious, and refined. In the works that relate especially to art and artist life a command of knowledge and just appreciation are clearly exhibited. Mr. Tuckerman's prose writings are a valuable contribution to polite literature. The two volumes of poetry are not remarkable, though “Love and Fame,” “Mary,” and “The Apollo Belvidere” are still admired. He was much beloved socially, in virtue of grace of manners and irreproachable personal worth. He spent many summers at Newport, where a pleasant memorial of him, presented by his sister, may be seen in the “Redwood Library,” consisting of a complete set of Mr. Tuckerman's writings in a beautiful ebony case, His works, besides those mentioned above, include “Rambles and Reveries” (1841); “Thoughts on the Poets,” principally English (1846; German translation by Dr. Emile Müller, Marburg, 1856); “Artist Life, or Sketches of American Painters” (New York, 1847); “Characteristics of Literature” (Philadelphia, 1849; 2d series, 1851); “The Optimist,” a volume of miscellaneous essays (New York, 1850); “Life of Commodore Silas Talbot” (1851); “Poems” (Boston, 1851); “A Month in England” (1853); “Memorial of Horatio Greenough” (New York, 1853); “Leaves from the Diary of a Dreamer” (1853); “Mental Portraits, or Studies of Character” (London, 1853; revised and enlarged as “Essays, Biographical and Critical, or Studies of Character,” Boston, 1857); “Essay on Washington, with a Paper on the Portraits of Washington” (New York, 1859)”; “America and Her Commentators” (1864); “A Sheaf of Verse” (1864); “The Criterion, or the Test of Talk about Familiar Things” (1866); “Maga Papers about Paris” (1867); “Book of the Artists,” a study of the rise and progress of art in America (1867); and “Life of John Pendleton Kennedy” (1871). See addresses by Henry W. Bellows and Evert A. Duyckinck (New York, 1872). Appletons’ Cylocpædia of American Biography, 1888.

Tyler, John, 1790-1862, Virginia.  Tenth President of the United States.  U.S. Senator from Virginia.  Vice President of the Richmond, Virginia, auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Disapproved of slavery.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 193-199; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 88; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 107)

TYLER, John, tenth president of the United States, b. at Greenway, Charles City co., Va., 29 March, 1790; d. in Richmond, Va., 18 Jan., 1862. He was the second son of Judge John Tyler and Mary Armistead. In early boyhood he attended the small school kept by a Mr. McMurdo, who was so diligent in his use of the birch that in later years Mr. Tyler said “it was a wonder he did not whip all the sense out of his scholars.” At the age of eleven young Tyler was one of the ringleaders in a rebellion in which the despotic McMurdo was overpowered by numbers, tied hand and foot, and left locked up in the school-house until late at night, when a passing traveller effected an entrance and released him. On complaining to Judge Tyler, the indignant school-master was met with the apt reply, “Sic semper tyrannis!” The future president was graduated at William and Mary in 1807. At college he showed a strong interest in ancient history. He was also fond of poetry and music, and, like Thomas Jefferson, was a skilful performer on the violin. In 1809 he was admitted to the bar, and had already begun to obtain a good practice when he was elected to the legislature, and took his seat in that body in December, 1811. He was here a firm supporter of Mr. Madison's administration, and the war with Great Britain, which soon followed, afforded him an opportunity to become conspicuous as a forcible and persuasive orator. One of his earliest public acts is especially interesting in view of the famous struggle with the Whigs, which in later years he conducted as president. The charter of the first Bank of the United States, established in 1791, was to expire in twenty years; and in 1811 the question of renewing the charter came before congress. The bank was very unpopular in Virginia, and the assembly of that state, by a vote of 125 to 35, instructed its senators at Washington, Richard Brent and William B. Giles, to vote against a recharter. The instructions denounced the bank as an institution in the founding of which congress had exceeded its powers and grossly violated state rights. Yet there were many in congress who, without approving the principle upon which the bank was founded, thought the eve of war an inopportune season for making a radical change in the financial system of the nation. Of the two Virginia senators, Brent voted in favor of the recharter, and Giles spoke on the same side, and although, in obedience to instructions, he voted contrary to his own opinion, he did so under protest. On 14 Jan., 1812, Mr. Tyler, in the Virginia legislature, introduced resolutions of censure, in which the senators were taken to task, while the Virginia doctrines, as to the unconstitutional character of the bank and the binding force of instructions, were formally asserted.

Mr. Tyler married, 29 March, 1813, Letitia, daughter of Robert Christian, and a few weeks afterward was called into the field at the head of a company of militia to take part in the defence of Richmond and its neighborhood, now threatened by the British. This military service lasted for a month, during which Mr. Tyler's company was not called into action. He was re-elected to the legislature annually, until in November, 1816, he was chosen to fill a vacancy in the U. S. house of representatives. In the regular election to the next congress, out of 200 votes given in his native county, he received all but one. As a member of congress he soon made himself conspicuous as a strict constructionist. When Mr. Calhoun introduced his bill in favor of internal improvements, Mr. Tyler voted against it. He opposed the bill for changing the per diem allowance of members of congress to an annual salary of $1,500. He opposed, as premature, Mr. Clay's proposal to add to the general appropriation bill a provision for $18,000 for a minister to the provinces of the La Plata, thus committing the United States to a recognition of the independence of those revolted provinces. He also voted against the proposal for a national bankrupt act. He condemned, as arbitrary and insubordinate, the course of Gen. Jackson in Florida, and contributed an able speech to the long debate over the question as to censuring that gallant commander. He was a member of a committee for inquiring into the affairs of the national bank, and his most elaborate speech was in favor of Mr. Trimble's motion to issue a scire facias against that institution. On all these points Mr. Tyler's course seems to have pleased his constituents; in the spring election of 1819 he did not consider it necessary to issue the usual circular address, or in any way to engage in a personal canvass. He simply distributed copies of his speech against the bank, and was re-elected to congress unanimously.

The most important question that came before the 16th congress related to the admission of Missouri to the Union. In the debates over this question Mr. Tyler took ground against the imposition of any restrictions upon the extension of slavery. At the same time he declared himself on principle opposed to the perpetuation of slavery, and he sought to reconcile these positions by the argument that in diffusing the slave population over a wide area the evils of the institution would be diminished and the prospects of ultimate emancipation increased. “Slavery,” said he, “has been represented on all hands as a dark cloud, and the candor of the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Whitman] drove him to the admission that it would be well to disperse this cloud. In this sentiment I entirely concur with him. How can you otherwise disarm it? Will you suffer it to increase in its darkness over one particular portion of this land till its horrors shall burst upon it? Will you permit the lightnings of its wrath to break upon the south, when by the interposition of a wise system of legislation you may reduce it to a summer's cloud? “New York and Pennsylvania, he argued, had been able to emancipate their slaves only by reducing their number by exportation. Dispersion, moreover, would be likely to ameliorate the condition of the black man, for by making his labor scarce in each particular locality it would increase the demand for it, and would thus make it the interest of the master to deal fairly and generously with his slaves. To the objection that the increase of the slave population would fully keep up with its territorial expansion, he replied by denying that such would be the case. His next argument was that if an old state, such as Virginia, could have slaves, while a new state, such as Missouri, was to be prevented by Federal authority from having them, then the old and new states would at once be placed upon a different footing, which was contrary to the spirit of the constitution. If congress could thus impose one restriction upon a state, where was the exercise of such a power to end? Once grant such a power, and what was to prevent a slave-holding majority in congress from forcing slavery upon some territory where it was not wanted? Mr. Tyler pursued the argument so far as to deny “that congress, under its constitutional authority to establish rules and regulations for the territories, had any control whatever over slavery in the territorial domain.” (See life, by Lyon G. Tyler, vol. i., p. 319.) Mr. Tyler was unquestionably foremost among the members of congress in occupying this position. When the Missouri compromise bill was adopted by a vote of 134 to 42, all but five of the nays were from the south, and from Virginia alone there were seventeen, of which Mr. Tyler's vote was one. The Richmond “Enquirer” of 7 March, 1820, in denouncing the compromise, observed, in language of prophetic interest, that the southern and western representatives now “owe it to themselves to keep their eyes firmly fixed on Texas; if we are cooped up on the north, we must have elbow-room to the west.”

Mr. Tyler's further action in this congress related chiefly to the question of a protective tariff, of which he was an unflinching opponent. In 1821, finding his health seriously impaired, he declined a re-election, and returned to private life. His retirement, however, was of short duration, for in 1823 he was again elected to the Virginia legislature. Here, as a friend to the candidacy of William H. Crawford for the presidency, he disapproved the attacks upon the congressional caucus begun by the legislature of Tennessee in the interests of Andrew Jackson. The next year he was nominated to fill the vacancy in the United States senate created by the death of John Taylor; but Littleton W. Tazewell was elected over him. He opposed the attempt to remove William and Mary college to Richmond, and was afterward made successively rector and chancellor of the college, which prospered signally under his management. In December, 1825, he was chosen by the legislature to the governorship of Virginia, in the following year he was re-elected by a unanimous vote. A new division of parties was now beginning to show itself in national politics. The administration of John Quincy Adams had pronounced itself in favor of what was then, without much regard to history, described as the “American system” of government banking, high tariffs, and internal improvements. Those persons who were inclined to a loose construction of the constitution were soon drawn to the side of the administration, while the strict constructionists were gradually united in opposition. Many members of Crawford's party, under the lead of John Randolph, became thus united with the Jacksonians, while others, of whom Mr. Tyler was one of the most distinguished, maintained a certain independence in opposition. It is to be set down to Mr. Tyler's credit that he never attached any importance to the malicious story, believed by so many Jacksonians, of a corrupt bargain between Adams and Clay. (See ADAMS, JOHN Q., CLAY, HENRY, and JACKSON, ANDREW.) Soon after the meeting of the Virginia legislature, in December, 1826, the friends of Clay and Adams combined with the members of the opposite party who were dissatisfied with Randolph, and thus Mr. Tyler was elected to the U. S. senate by a majority of 115 votes to 110. Some indiscreet friends of Jackson now attempted to show that there must have been some secret and reprehensible understanding between Tyler and Clay; but this scheme failed completely. In the senate Mr. Tyler took a conspicuous stand against the so-called “tariff of abominations” enacted in 1828, which Benton, Van Buren, and other prominent Jacksonians, not yet quite clear as to their proper attitude, were induced to support. There was thus some ground for the opinion entertained at this time by Tyler, that the Jacksonians were not really strict constructionists. In February, 1830, after taking part in the Virginia convention for revising the state constitution, Mr. Tyler returned to his seat in the senate, and found himself first drawn toward Jackson by the veto message of the latter, 27 May, upon the Maysville turnpike bill. He attacked the irregularity of Jackson's appointment of commissioners to negotiate a commercial treaty with Turkey without duly informing the senate. On the other hand, he voted in favor of confirming the appointment of Van Buren as minister to Great Britain. In the presidential election of 1832 he supported Jackson as a less objectionable candidate than the others, Clay, Wirt, and Floyd, Mr. Tyler disapproved of nullification, and condemned the course of South Carolina as both unconstitutional and impolitic. At the same time he objected to President Jackson's famous proclamation of 10 Dec., 1832, as a “tremendous engine of federalism,” tending to the “consolidation” of the states into a single political body. Under the influence of these feelings he undertook to play the part of mediator between Clay and Calhoun, and in that capacity earnestly supported the compromise tariff introduced by the former in the senate, 12 Feb., 1833. On the so-called “force bill,” clothing the president with extraordinary powers for the purpose of enforcing the tariff law, Mr. Tyler showed that he had the courage of his convictions. When the bill was put to vote, 20 Feb., 1833, some of its opponents happened to be absent; others got up and went out in order to avoid putting themselves on record. The vote, as then taken, stood: yeas, thirty-two; nay, one (John Tyler).

As President Jackson's first term had witnessed a division in the Democratic party between the nullifiers led by Calhoun and the unconditional upholders of the Union, led by the president himself, with Benton, Blair, and Van Buren, so his second term witnessed a somewhat similar division arising out of the war upon the United States bank. The tendency of this fresh division was to bring Mr. Tyler and his friends nearer to co-operation with Mr. Calhoun, while at the same time it furnished points of contact that might, if occasion should offer, be laid hold of for the purpose of forming a temporary alliance with Mr. Clay and the National Republicans. The origin of the name “Whig,” in its strange and anomalous application to the combination in 1834, is to be found in the fact that it pleased the fancy of President Jackson's opponents to represent him as a kind of arbitrary tyrant. On this view it seemed proper that they should be designated “Whigs,” and at first there were some attempts to discredit the supporters of the administration by calling them “Tories.” On the question of the bank, when it came to the removal of the deposits, Mr. Tyler broke with the administration. Against the bank he had fought, one very fitting occasion, since the beginning of his public career. In 1834 he declared emphatically: “I believe the bank to be the original sin against the constitution, which, in the progress of our history, has called into existence a numerous progeny of usurpations. Shall I permit this serpent, however bright its scales or erect its mien, to exist by and through my vote?” Nevertheless, strongly as he disapproved of the bank, Mr. Tyler disapproved still more strongly of the methods by which President Jackson assailed it. There seemed at that time to be growing up in the United States a spirit of extreme unbridled democracy quite foreign to the spirit in which our constitutional government, with its carefully arranged checks and limitations, was founded. It was a spirit that prompted mere majorities to insist upon having their way, even at the cost of overriding all constitutional checks and limits. This spirit possessed many members of Jackson's party, and it found expression in what Benton grotesquely called the “demos krateo” principle. A good illustration of it was to be seen in Benton's argument, after the election of 1824, that Jackson, having received a plurality of electoral votes, ought to be declared president, and that the house of representatives, in choosing Adams, was “defying the will of the people.”

In similar wise President Jackson, after his triumphant re-election in 1832, was inclined to interpret his huge majorities as meaning that the people were ready to uphold him in any course that he might see fit to pursue. This feeling no doubt strengthened him in his determined attitude toward the nullifiers, and it certainly contributed to his arbitrary and overbearing method of dealing with the bank, culminating in 1833 in his removal of the deposits. There was ground for maintaining that in this act the president exceeded his powers, and it seemed to illustrate the tendency of unbridled democracy toward despotism, under the leadership of a headstrong and popular chief. Mr. Tyler saw in it such a tendency, and he believed that the only safeguard for constitutional government, whether against the arbitrariness of Jackson or the latitudinarianism of the National Republicans, lay in a most rigid adherence to strict constructionist doctrines. Accordingly, in his speech of 24 Feb., 1834, he proposed to go directly to the root of the matter and submit the question of a national bank to the people in the shape of a constitutional amendment, either expressly forbidding or expressly allowing congress to create such an institution. According to his own account, he found Clay and Webster ready to co-operate with him in this course, while Calhoun held aloof. Nothing came of the project; but it is easy to see in Mr. Tyler's attitude at this time the basis for a short-lived alliance with the National Republicans, whenever circumstances should suggest it. On Mr. Clay's famous resolution to censure the president he voted in the affirmative. In the course of 1835 the seriousness of the schism in the Democratic party was fully revealed. Not only had the small body of nullifiers broken away, under the lead of Calhoun, but a much larger party was formed in the southern states under the appellation of “state-rights Whigs.” They differed with the National Republicans on the fundamental questions of tariff, bank, and internal improvements, and agreed with them only in opposition to Jackson as an alleged violator of the constitution. Even in this opposition they differed from the party of Webster and Clay, for they grounded it largely upon a theory of state rights which the latter statesmen had been far from accepting. The “state-rights Whigs” now nominated Hugh L. White, of Tennessee, for president, and John Tyler for vice-president. The National Republicans wishing to gather votes from the other parties, nominated for president Gen. William H. Harrison as a more colorless candidate than Webster or Clay. The Democratic followers of Jackson nominated Van Buren, who received a large majority of both popular and electoral votes, in spite of the defections above mentioned. There was a great deal of bolting in this election. Massachusetts threw its vote for Webster for president, and South Carolina for “Willie P. Mangum. Virginia, which voted for Van Buren, rejected his colleague, Richard M. Johnson, and cast its twenty-three electoral votes for William Smith, of Alabama, for vice-president. Mr. White obtained the electoral votes of Tennessee and Georgia, twenty-six in all, but Mr. Tyler made a better showing; he carried, besides these two states, Maryland and South Carolina, making forty-seven votes in all. The unevenness of the results was such that the election of a vice-president devolved upon the senate, which chose Mr. Johnson. In the course of the year preceding the election an incident occurred which emphasized more than ever Mr. Tyler's hostility to the Jackson party. Benton's famous resolutions for expunging the vote of censure upon the president were before the senate, and the Democratic legislature of Virginia instructed the two senators from that state to vote in the affirmative. As to the binding force of such instructions Mr. Tyler had long ago, in the case of Giles and Brent, above mentioned, placed himself unmistakably upon record. His colleague, Benjamin Watkins Leigh, was known to entertain similar views. On receiving the instructions, both senators refused to obey them. Both voted against the Benton resolutions, but Mr. Leigh kept his seat, while Mr. Tyler resigned and returned home, 29 Feb., 1836. About this time the followers of Calhoun were bringing forward what was known as the “gag resolution” against all petitions and motions relating in any way to the abolition of slavery. (See ATHERTON, CHARLES G.) Mr. Tyler's resignation occurred before this measure was adopted, but his opinions on the subject were clearly pronounced. He condemned the measure as impolitic, because it yoked together the question as to the right of petition and the question as to slavery, and thus gave a distinct moral advantage to the Abolitionists. On the seventh anniversary of the Virginia colonization society, 10 Jan., 1838, he was chosen its president. In the spring election of that year he was returned to the Virginia legislature. In January, 1839, his friends put him forward for re-election to the U. S. senate, and in the memorable contest that ensued, in which William C. Rives was his principal competitor, the result was a deadlock, and the question was indefinitely postponed before any choice had been made.

Meanwhile the financial crisis of 1837—the most severe, in many respects, that has ever been known in this country—had wrecked the administration of President Van Buren. The causes of that crisis, indeed, lay deeper than any acts of any administration. The primary cause was the sudden development of wild speculation in western lands, consequent upon the rapid building of railroads, which would probably have brought about a general prostration of credit, even if President Jackson had never made war upon the United States bank. But there is no doubt that some measures of Jackson's administration—such as the removal of the deposits and their lodgment in the so-called “pet banks,” the distribution of the surplus followed by the sudden stoppage of distribution, and the sharpness of the remedy supplied by the specie circular—had much to do with the virulence of the crisis. For the moment it seemed to many people that all the evil resulted from the suppression of the bank, and that the proper cure was the reinstatement of the bank, and because President Van Buren was too wise and clear-sighted to lend his aid to such a policy, his chances for re-election were ruined. The cry for the moment was that the hard-hearted administration was doing nothing to relieve the distress of the people, and there was a general combination against Van Buren. For the single purpose of defeating him, all differences of policy were for the moment subordinated. In the Whig convention at Harrisburg, 4 Dec., 1839, no platform of principles was adopted. Gen. Harrison was again nominated for the presidency, as a candidate fit to conciliate the anti-Masons and National Republicans whom Clay had offended, and Mr. Tyler was nominated for the vice-presidency in order to catch the votes of such Democrats as were dissatisfied with the administration. In the uproarious canvass that followed there was probably less appeal to sober reason and a more liberal use of clap-trap than in any other presidential contest in our history. Borne upon a great wave of popular excitement, “Tippecanoe, and Tyler too,” were carried to the White House. By the death of President Harrison, 4 April, 1841, just a month after the inauguration, Mr. Tyler became president of the United States. The situation thus developed was not long in producing startling results. Although no platform had been adopted in the nominating convention, it soon appeared that Mr. Clay and his friends intended to use their victory in support of the old National Republican policy of a national bank, a high tariff, and internal improvements. Doubtless most people who voted for Harrison did so in the belief that his election meant the victory of Clay's doctrines and the re-establishment of the United States bank. Mr. Clay's own course, immediately after the inauguration, showed so plainly that he regarded the election as his own victory that Gen. Harrison felt called upon to administer a rebuke to him. “You seem to forget, sir,” said he, “that it is I who am president.”

Tyler, on the other hand, regarded the Whig triumph as signifying the overthrow of what he considered a corrupt and tyrannical faction led by Jackson, Van Buren, and Benton; he professed to regard the old National Republican doctrines as virtually postponed by the alliance between them and his own followers. In truth, it was as ill-yoked an alliance as ever was made. The elements of a fierce quarrel were scarcely concealed, and the removal of President Harrison was all that was needed to kindle the flames of strife. “Tyler dares not resist,” said Clay; “I'll drive him before me.” On the other hand, the new president declared: “I pray you to believe that my back is to the wall, and that, while I shall deplore the assaults, I shall, if practicable, beat back the assailants”; and he was as good as his word. Congress met in extra session, 31 May, 1841, the senate standing 28 Whigs to 22 Democrats, the house 133 Whigs to 108 Democrats. In his opening message President Tyler briefly recounted the recent history of the United States bank, the sub-treasury system, and other financial schemes, and ended with the precautionary words: “I shall be ready to concur with you in the adoption of such system as you may propose,  reserving to myself the ultimate power of rejecting any measure which may, in my view of it, conflict with the constitution or otherwise jeopard the prosperity of the country, a power which I  could not part with, even if I would, but which I will not believe any act of yours will call into requisition.” Congress disregarded the warning. The ground was cleared for action by a bill for abolishing Van Buren's sub-treasury system, which vision passed both houses and was signed by the president. But an amendment offered by Mr. Clay, for the repeal of the law of 1836 regulating the deposits in the state banks, was defeated by the votes of a small party led by William C. Rives. The great question then came up. On constitutional grounds, Mr. Tyler's objection to the United States bank had always been that congress had no power to create such a corporation within the limits of a state without the consent of the state ascertained beforehand. He did not deny, however, the power of congress to establish a district bank for the District of Columbia, and, provided the several states should consent, there seemed to  be no reason why this district bank should not set up its branch offices all over the country. Mr. Clay's so-called “fiscal bank” bill of 1841 did not make proper provision for securing the assent of the states, and on that ground Mr. Rives proposed private letters warned him of plots to assassinate an amendment substituting a clause of a bill suggested by Thomas Ewing, secretary of the treasury, to the effect that such assent should be formally secured. Mr. Rives's amendment was supported not only by several “state-rights Whigs,” but also by senators Richard H. Bayard and Rufus Choate, and other friends of Mr. Webster. If adopted, its effect would have been conciliatory, and it might perhaps have averted for a moment the rupture between the ill-yoked allies. The Democrats, well aware of this, voted against the amendment, and it was lost. The bill incorporating the fiscal bank of the United States was then passed by both houses, and on 16 Aug. was vetoed. An attempt to pass the bill over the veto failed of the requisite two-third majority.  

The Whig leaders had already shown a disposition to entrap the president. Before the passage of Mr. Clay's bill, John Minor Botts was sent to the White House with a private suggestion for a compromise. Mr. Tyler refused to listen to the suggestion except with the understanding that, should it meet with his disapproval, he should not hear from it again. The suggestion turned out to be a proposal that congress should authorize the establishment of branches of the district bank in any state of which the legislature at its very next session should not expressly refuse its consent to any such proceeding; and that, moreover, in case the interests of the public should seem to require it, even such express refusal might be disregarded and overridden. By this means the obnoxious institution might first be established in the Whig states, and then forced upon the Democratic states in spite of themselves. The president indignantly rejected the suggestion as “a contemptible subterfuge, behind which he would not skulk.” The device, nevertheless, became incorporated in Mr. Clay's bill, and it was pretended that it was put there in order to smooth the way for the president to adopt the measure, but that in his unreasonable obstinacy he refused to avail himself of the opportunity. After his veto of 16 Aug. these tortuous methods were renewed. Messengers went to and fro between the president and members of his you cabinet on the one hand, and leading Whig members of congress on the other, conditional assurances were translated into the indicative mood, whispered messages were magnified and distorted, and presently appeared upon the scene an outline of a bill that it was assumed the president would sign. This new measure was known as the “fiscal corpo ration” bill. Like the fiscal bank bill, it created a bank in the District of Columbia, with branches throughout the states, and it made no proper pro vision for the consent of the states. The president had admitted that a “fiscal agency” of the United States government, established in Washington for the purpose of collecting, keeping, and disbursing the public revenue, was desirable if not indispensable; a regular bank of discount, engaged in commercial transactions throughout the states, and having the United States government as its principal share-holder and Federal officers exerting a controlling influence upon its directorship, was an entirely different affair—something, in his opinion, neither desirable nor permissible. In the “fiscal corporation” bill an attempt was made to hood wink the president and the public by a pretence of forbidding discounts and loans and limiting the operations of the fiscal agency exclusively to exchanges. While this project was maturing, the Whig newspapers fulminated with threats against the president in case he should persist in his course; private letters warned him of plots to assassinate him, and Mr. Clay in the senate referred to his resignation in 1836, and asked why, if constitutional scruples again hindered him from obeying the will of the people, did he not now resign his lofty position and leave it for those who could be more compliant? To this it was aptly replied by Mr. Rives the president was an independent branch of the government as well as congress, and was not called upon to resign because he differed in opinion with them.” Some of the Whigs seem really to have hoped that such a storm could be raised as would browbeat the president into resigning, whereby the government would be temporarily left in the hands of William L. Southard, then president pro tempore of the senate. But Mr. Tyler was neither to be hoodwinked nor bullied. The “fiscal corporation” bill was passed by the senate on Saturday, 4 Sept., 1841; on Thursday, the 9th, the president's veto message was received; on Saturday, the 11th, Thomas Ewing, secretary of the treasury, John Bell, secretary of war, George E. Badger, secretary of the navy, John J. Crittenden, attorney-general, and Francis Granger, post master-general, resigned their places. The adjournment of congress had been fixed for Monday, the 13th, and it was hoped that, suddenly confronted by a unanimous resignation of the cabinet and confused by want of time in which to appoint a new cabinet, the president would give up the game. But the resignation was not unanimous, for Daniel Webster, secretary of state, remained at his post, and on Monday morning the president nominated Walter Forward, of Pennsylvania, for secretary of the treasury; John McLean, of Ohio, for secretary of war; Abel P. Upshur, of Virginia, for secretary of the navy; Hugh S. Legaré, of South Carolina, for attorney-general; and Charles A. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, for postmaster-general. These appointments were duly confirmed.

Whether the defection of Mr. Webster at this moment would have been so fatal to the president as some of the Whigs were inclined to believe, may well be doubted, but there can be no doubt that his adherence to the president was of great value.  By remaining in the cabinet Mr. Webster showed himself too clear-sighted to contribute to a victory of which the whole profit would be reaped by his rival, Mr. Clay, and the president was glad to retain his hold upon so strong an element in the north as that which Mr. Webster represented. Some of the leading Whig members of congress now issued addresses to the people, in which they loudly condemned the conduct of the president and declared that “all political connection between them and John Tyler was at an end from that day forth.” It was open war between the two departments of government. Although many Whig members, like Preston, Talmadge, Johnson, and Marshall, really sympathized with Mr. Tyler, only a few, commonly known as “the corporal's guard,” openly recognized him as their leader. But the Democratic members came to his support as an ally- against the Whigs. The state elections of 1841 showed some symptoms of a reaction in favor of the president's views, for in general the Whigs lost ground in them. As the spectre of the crisis of 1837 faded away in the distance, the people began to recover from the sudden and overmastering impulse that had swept the country in 1840, and the popular enthusiasm for the bank soon died away. Mr. Tyler had really won a victory of the first magnitude, as was conclusively shown in 1844, when the presidential platform of the Whigs was careful to make no allusion whatever to the bank. On this crucial question the doctrines of paternal government had received a crushing and permanent defeat. In the next session of congress the strife with the president was renewed; but it was now tariff, not bank, that furnished the subject of discussion. Diminished importations, due to the general prostration of business, had now diminished the revenue until it was insufficient to meet the expenses of government. The Whigs accordingly carried through congress a bill continuing the protective duties of 1833, and providing that the surplus revenue, which was thus sure soon to accumulate, should be distributed among the states. But the compromise act of 1833, in which Mr. Tyler had played an important part, had provided that the protective policy should come to an end in 1842. Both on this ground, and because of the provision for distributing the surplus, the president vetoed the new bill. Congress then devised and passed another bill, providing for a tariff for revenue, with incidental protection, but still contemplating a distribution of the surplus, if there should be any. The president vetoed this bill. Congress received the veto message with great indignation, and on the motion of ex-President John Q. Adams it was referred to a committee, which condemned it as an unwarrantable assumption of power, and after a caustic summary of Mr. Tyler's acts since his accession to office, concluded with a reference to impeachment. This report called forth from the president a formal protest; but the victory was already his. The Whigs were afraid to go before the country in the autumn elections with the tariff question unsettled, and the bill was accordingly passed by both houses, without the distributing clause, and was at once signed by the president. The distributing clause was then passed in a separate bill, but a “pocket veto” disposed of it. Congress adjourned on 31 Aug., 1842, and in the elections the Whig majority of twenty-five in the house of representatives gave place to a Democratic majority of sixty-one.

On the remaining question of National Republican policy, that of internal improvements, the most noteworthy action of President Tyler was early in 1844, when two river-and-harbor bills were passed by congress, the one relating to the eastern, the other to the western states. Mr. Tyler vetoed the former, but signed the latter, on the ground that the Mississippi river, as a great common highway for the commerce of the whole country, was the legitimate concern of the national government in a sense that was not true of any other American river. An unsuccessful attempt was made to pass the other bill over the veto. The rest of Mr. Tyler's administration was taken up with the Ashburton treaty with Great Britain (see WEBSTER, DANIEL), the Oregon question, and the annexation of Texas. Texas had won its independence from Mexico in 1836, and its governor, as well as the majority of its inhabitants, were citizens of the United States. From a broad national standpoint it was in every way desirable that Texas, as well as Oregon, should belong to our Federal Union. In the eastern states there was certainly a failure to appreciate the value of Oregon, which was nevertheless claimed as indisputably our property. On the other hand, it was felt, by it certain element in South Carolina, that if the northern states were to have ample room for expansion beyond the Rocky mountains, the southern states must have Texas added to their number as a counterpoise, or else the existence of slavery would be imperilled, and these fears were strengthened by the growth of anti-slavery sentiment at the north. The Whigs, who by reason of their tariff policy found their chief strength at the north, were disposed to avail themselves of this anti-slavery sentiment, and accordingly declared themselves opposed to the annexation of Texas. In the mean time the political pressure brought to bear upon Mr. Webster in Massachusetts induced resignation of his portfolio, and he was succeeded in the state department by Hugh S. Legaré, 9 May, 1843. In a few weeks Legaré was succeeded by Mr. Upshur, after whose death, on 28 Feb., 1844, the place was filled by John C. Calhoun. After a negotiation extending over two years, a treaty was concluded, 12 April, 1844, with the government of Texas, providing for annexation. The treaty was rejected by the senate, by a vote of 35 to 16, all the Whigs and seven Democrats voting in the negative. Thus by the summer of 1844 the alliance between the Whig party and Mr. Tyler's wing of the Democrats had passed away. At the same time the division among the Democrats, which had become marked during Jackson's administration, still continued; and while the opposition to Mr. Tyler was strong enough to prevent his nomination in the Democratic national convention, which met at Baltimore on 27 May, 1844, on the other hand he was able to prevent the nomination of Mr. Van Buren, who had declared himself opposed to the immediate annexation of Texas. The result was the nomination of James K. Polk, as a kind of compromise candidate, in so far as he belonged to the “loco-foco” wing of the party, but was at the same time in favor of annexation. On the same day, 27 May, another convention at Baltimore nominated Mr. Tyler for a second term. He accepted the nomination in order to coerce the Democrats into submitting to him and his friends a formal invitation to re-enter the ranks; and accordingly a meeting of Democrats at the Carleton house, New York, on 6 Aug., adopted a series of resolutions commending the principal acts of his administration, and entreating that in the general interests of the opposition he should withdraw. In response to this appeal, Mr. Tyler accordingly withdrew his name. The northern opposition to the annexation of Texas seemed to have weakened the strength of the Whigs in the south, and their candidate. Henry Clay, declared himself willing to see Texas admitted at some future time. But this device cut both ways; for while it was popular in the south, and is supposed to have acquired for Clay many pro-slavery votes, carrying for him Tennessee, North Carolina, Delaware, and Maryland by bare majorities, it certainly led many anti-slavery Whigs to throw away their votes upon the “Liberty” candidate, James G. Birney, and thus surrender New York to the Democrats. The victory of the Democrats in November was reflected in the course pursued in the ensuing congress. One of the party watchwords, in reference to the Oregon question, had been “fifty-four forty, or fight,” and the house of representatives now proceeded to pass a bill organizing a territorial government for Oregon up to that parallel of latitude. The senate, however, laid the bill upon the table, because it prohibited slavery in the territory. A joint resolution for the annexation of Texas was passed by both houses. Proposals for prohibiting slavery there were defeated, and the affair was arranged by extending the Missouri compromise-line westward through the Texan territory to be acquired by the annexation. North of that line slavery was to be prohibited; south of it the question was to be determined by the people living on the spot. The resolutions were signed by President Tyler, and instructions in accordance therewith were despatched by him to Texas on the last day of his term of office, 3 March, 1845. The friends of annexation defended the constitutionality of this proceeding, and the opponents denounced it.

After leaving the White House, Mr. Tyler took up his residence on an estate that he had purchased three miles from Greenway, on the bank of James river. To this estate he gave the name of “Sherwood Forest,” and there he lived the rest of his life. (See illustration on page 196.) In a letter published in the Richmond “Enquirer” on 17 Jan., 1861, he recommended a convention of border states—including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, as well as Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri—for the purpose of devising some method of adjusting the difficulties brought on by the secession of South Carolina. The scheme adopted by this convention was to be submitted to the other states, and, if adopted, was to be incorporated into the Federal constitution. In acting upon Mr. Tyler's suggestion, the Virginia legislature enlarged it into a proposal of a peace convention to be composed of delegates from all the states. At the same time Mr. Tyler was appointed a commissioner to President Buchanan, while Judge John Robertson was appointed commissioner to the state of South Carolina, the object being to persuade both parties to abstain from any acts of hostility until the proposed peace convention should have had an opportunity to meet and discuss the situation. In discharge of this mission Mr. Tyler arrived on 23 Jan. in Washington. President Buchanan declined to give any assurances, but in his message to congress, on 28 Jan., he deprecated a hasty resort to hostile measures. The peace convention, consisting of delegates from thirteen northern and seven border states, met at Washington on 4 Feb. and chose Mr. Tyler as its president. Several resolutions were adopted and reported to congress, 27 Feb.; but on 2 March they were rejected in the senate by a vote of 28 to 7, and two days later the house adjourned without having taken a vote upon them. On 28 Feb., anticipating the fate of the resolutions in congress, Mr. Tyler made a speech on the steps of the Exchange hotel in Richmond, and declared his belief that no arrangement could be made, and that nothing was left for Virginia but to act promptly in the exercise of her powers as a sovereign state. The next day he took his seat in the State convention, where he advocated the immediate passing of an ordinance of secession. His attitude seems to have been substantially the same that it had been twenty-eight years before, when he disapproved the heresy of nullification, but condemned with still greater emphasis the measures taken by President Jackson to suppress that heresy. This feeling that secession was unadvisable, but coercion wholly indefensible, was shared by Mr. Tyler with many people in the border states. On the removal of the government of the southern Confederacy from Montgomery to Richmond, in May, 1861, he was unanimously elected a member of the provisional congress of the Confederate states. In the following autumn he was elected to the permanent congress, but he died before taking his seat. His biography has been ably written by one of his younger sons, Lyon Gardiner Tyler, “Letters and Times of the Tylers” (2 vols., Richmond, 1884-'5). See also “Seven Decades of the Union,” by Henry A. Wise (Philadelphia, 1872). Appletons’ Cylocpædia of American Biography, 1888.

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Underwood, John, Kentucky, Recording Secretary, 1833-34, Manager, 1840-41, Director, 1836-41.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

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Van Ness, Cornelius Peter, 1782-1852, Vermont, jurist, political leader.  Governor of Vermont.  Officer, Vermont auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 249; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 76)

VAN NESS, Cornelius Peter, jurist, b. in Kinderhook, N. Y., 26 Jan., 1782; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 15 Dec., 1852, was educated for the bar, removed to Burlington, Vt., and practised his profession with success until 1809, when he became U. S. district attorney. From that year until his death he occupied public office. He was collector of the port of Burlington in 1815-'18, a commissioner to settle the U. S. boundary-lines under the treaty of Ghent in 1817-'21, a member of the legislature in 1818-'21, having been chosen, as a Democrat, chief justice of Vermont in 1821-'3, governor from the latter date till 1829, and U. S. minister to Spain in 1829-'37. In 1844-'5 he was collector of the port of New York. The University of Vermont gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1823. He published a “Letter to the Public on Political Parties, Caucuses, and Conventions” (Washington, D. C., 1848). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Van Rensselaer, Stephen, 1764-1839, New York, soldier, U.S. Congressman.  Vice-President, American Colonization Society (ACS), 1836-41.  Founding member and officer of the Albany auxiliary of the ACS.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 251-252; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 81)

VAN RENSSELAER, Stephen, eighth patroon, b. in New York, 1 Nov., 1765; d. in Albany, N. Y., 26 Jan., 1839, was graduated at Harvard in 1782, and the next year married Margaret, daughter of Gen. Philip Schuyler. He was always addressed by courtesy as the patroon, although with the establishment of the colonial government he lost his baronial rights. After leaving college he entered at once on the improvement of his splendid although somewhat diminished estates, and, to induce farmers to settle on his lands, placed rentals so low that they yielded only one per cent. at a fair valuation. In consequence he soon had 900 farms of 150 acres each under cultivation. Having secured his patrimony, he entered politics, and, as a great landholder and at the same time an ardent patriot, was destined to bridge the chasm between the two opposite political systems. He was chosen to the assembly in 1789 as a Federalist, became a leader of that party, was state senator in 1791-'6, lieutenant-governor in 1795, and in 1798 and 1808-'10 was in the assembly. He became major of militia in 1786, colonel in 1788, and major-general in.1801. He was one of the first to propose the establishment of a canal between Hudson river and the great lakes, was appointed in 1810 a commissioner to report to the assembly on the route, and made an investigating tour of it the same year, the report of which was favorably received in 1811; but the project was delayed by the beginning of the second war with Great Britain. In 1812 he was appointed to command the U. S. forces on the northern frontier. Although he opposed the war as premature, he at once organized a militia force that was sufficient in numbers to overrun the province of Upper Canada. But he had no regular soldiers, and his officers were deficient in both courage and military skill. On 13-14 Oct., 1812, he fought the battle of Queenston Heights. The importance of that place arose from the fact that it was the terminus of the portage between Lake Ontario and the upper lakes. Gen. Van Rensselaer had minute information as to the situation and strength of each post of the enemy on the western bank of Niagara river, and his portion of his grandfather Killian's estate what was known as the Claverack patent, containing about 62,000 acres of land in Columbia county, and 1,500 acres out of the manor proper, opposite the city of Albany. He built a substantial brick house on the latter estate and one at Claverack, which is still standing. He was employed in many public capacities, being mayor of Albany, commissioner of Indian affairs, and a representative in the assembly. In 1698 he bought from the Schaghticoke Indians a tract of six square miles on Hoosac river, for which he procured a patent. This purchase interfered greatly with the city of Albany, and, Van Rensselaer declining to sell his patent to the council, the controversy became a state affair. In 1699 the dispute was amicably settled and he passed his patent over to the city. His wife was a granddaughter of Anneke Jans Bogardus, through whom their descendants became heirs to Trinity church farm.  Appletons’ Cylocpædia of American Biography, 1888.

Vroom, Peter Dumont, 1791-1873, Somerville, New Jersey, lawyer, state legislator, Governor of New Jersey, diplomat.  American Colonization Society, Vice-President, 1838-1841.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 308; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 295; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

VROOM, Peter Dumont, governor of New Jersey, b. in Hillsborough township, N. J., 12 Dec., 1791; d. in Trenton, N. J., 18 Nov., 1873. He was the son of Col. Peter D. Vroom, a Revolutionary officer. He was graduated at Columbia in 1808, admitted to the bar in 1813, and practised in various counties of New Jersey. He was a member of the legislature in 1826-'9, and in the latter year was elected governor of New Jersey as a Jackson Democrat by joint ballot of the two houses, which was the method of election at that time. He was re-elected in 1830-'1 and 1833-'6, and in 1837 was appointed by President Van Buren a commissioner to adjust the claims of the Indians in Mississippi, was a member of congress in 1839-'41, having been chosen as a Democrat, and a member of the State constitutional convention in 1844. In 1852 he was a presidential elector, and in 1853-'7 was minister to Prussia. He was appointed reporter of the supreme court of New Jersey in 1865, and in 1868 was again a presidential elector. The degree of LL. D. was conferred on him by Columbia in 1837 and by Princeton in 1850. He published “Reports of the Supreme Court of New Jersey” (6 vols., Trenton, 1866-'73). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

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Walker, Charles, Reverend, Rutland, Vermont, clergyman.  Agent of the American Colonization Society (ACS) in New England.  Assistant to ACS agent Reverend Joshua N. Danforth of Boston.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 197)

Ward, Samuel, 1786-1839, New York, New York, banker, philanthropist, temperance activist.  Friend and supporter of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 354; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 438; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 227)

WARD, Samuel, banker, b. in Rhode Island, 1 May, 1786; d. in New York city, 27 Nov., 1839, received a common-school education, entered a banking-house as clerk, and in 1808 was taken into partnership, continuing a member of the firm of Prime, Ward and King until his death. In 1838 he secured through the Bank of England a loan of nearly $5,000,000 to enable the banks to resume specie payments, and established the Bank of commerce, becoming its president. He was a founder of the University of the city of New York and of the City temperance society, of which he was the first president, and was active in organizing mission churches, a patron of many charities, and the giver of large sums in aid of Protestant Episcopal churches and colleges in the west. Appletons’ Cylocpædia of American Biography, 1888.

Ware, Nicholas, 1769-1824, Augusta, Georgia, U.S. Senator.  Member of the Augusta auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Proponent of colonization.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 358; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

WARE, Nicholas, senator, b. in Caroline county, Va., in 1769; d. in New York city, 7 Sept., 1824. While a youth he accompanied his father, Capt. Robert Ware, to Edgefield, S. C. He afterward studied medicine at Augusta, Ga., and then law, completing his studies at the Litchfield, Conn., law-school. He attained success in his profession at Augusta, represented Richmond county in the Georgia legislature, was mayor of Augusta, afterward judge of the city court, and U. S. senator from Georgia in 1821-'4. He was president of the board of trustees of Richmond county academy, Augusta, at the time of his death, and was also a trustee of the University of Georgia at Athens. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Washington, Bushrod, 1762-1829, Washington, DC, founding officer and life member and supporter of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 384; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 508; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 27, 30, 34, 36, 51, 70, 128, 173)

WASHINGTON, Bushrod, jurist, b. in Westmoreland county, Va., 5 June, 1762; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 26 Nov., 1829, was the son of John Augustine, a younger brother of the general. He was graduated at William and Mary in 1778, studied law with James Wilson, of Philadelphia, and began practice in his native county. His professional duties were interrupted by his entrance into the patriot army, and he served as a private in the Revolution. He was a member of the Virginia house of delegates in 1 787, and the next year of that to ratify the constitution of the United States. He subsequently removed to Alexandria, and thence to Richmond, Va. He was appointed an associate justice of the U. S. supreme court in 1798, which office he held until his death. Judge Washington was the first president of the Colonization society, and a learned jurist. He was the favorite nephew of Gen. Washington. At the death of Mrs. Washington he inherited the mansion and 400 acres of the Mount Vernon estate. He died without issue. Judge Washington’s publications include “Reports of Cases argued and determined in the Court of Appeals of Virginia” (2 vols., Richmond, Va., 1798-'9), and “Reports of Cases determined in the Circuit Court of the United States, for the 3d Circuit, from 1803 till 1827,” edited by Richard Peters (4 vols., 1826-'9). Of these Horace Binney says in his “Life of Bushrod Washington” (printed privately, Philadelphia, 1858): “I have never thought that his reports of his own decisions did him entire justice, while they in no inadequate manner at all fully represent his judicial powers, nor the ready command he held of his learning in the law.” See also a sketch of Judge Washington in Mr. Justice Story's “Miscellaneous Writings” (Philadelphia, 1852).  Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Wayne, James Moore, 1790-1867, Savannah, Georgia, jurist, Court of Common Pleas.  Member of the Savannah auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 400; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 565; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 71)

WAYNE, James Moore, jurist, b. in Savannah, Ga., in 1790; d. in Washington, D. C., 5 July, 1867. He was graduated at Princeton in 1808, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1810, and began practice at Savannah. He served for two years in the state house of representatives, was elected mayor of Savannah in 1823, and chosen judge of the superior court in 1824, serving for five years. He was a member of congress in 1829-'35, took an active part as a debater, and was a supporter of Gen. Andrew Jackson, who appointed him, 9 Jan., 1835, associate justice of the U. S. supreme court. His opinions upon admiralty jurisprudence are cited as being of high authority. In congress he favored free-trade, opposed internal improvements by congress, except of rivers and harbors, and opposed a recharter of the U. S. bank, claiming that it would confer dangerous political powers upon a few individuals. He took an active part in the removal of the Indians to the west. Judge Wayne presided in two conventions that were held for revising the constitution of Georgia. Princeton college gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1849. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852, Boston, Massachusetts, statesman, U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Congressman, lawyer, orator, author, strong opponent of slavery.  Vice President of the American Colonization Society, 1833-1841.  President of the Society for the Suppression of the Slave Trade in 1822. (Baxter, 1984; Blue, 2005; Mabee, 1970, pp. 175, 197, 261, 291, 307; Mitchell, 2007; Peterson, 1987; Remini, 1997; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 331-332, 508-509; Shewmaker, 1990; Smith, 1989; Webster, 1969; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 406-415; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 585; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 22, p. 865; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 27, 76, 245)

WEBSTER, Daniel, statesman, b. in Salisbury (now Franklin), N.H., 18 Jan., 1782; d. in Marshfield, Mass., 24 Oct., 1852, was the second son of Ebenezer Webster by his second wife, Abigail Eastman. He seemed so puny and sickly as an infant that it was thought he would not live to grow up. He was considered too delicate for hard work on the farm, and was allowed a great deal of time for play. Much of this leisure he spent in fishing and hunting, or in roaming about the woods, the rest in reading. In later life he could not remember when he learned to read. As a child his thirst for knowlec1ge was insatiable; he read every book that came within reach, and conned his favorite authors until their sentences were in great part stored in his memory. In May, 1796, he was sent to Exeter academy, where he made rapid progress with his studies, but was so overcome by shyness that he found it impossible to stand up and “speak pieces” before his school-mates. In spite of this timidity, some of his riatural gifts as an orator had already begun to show themselves. His great, lustrous eyes and rich voice, with its musical intonations, had already exerted a fascination upon those who came within their range; passing teamsters would stop, and farmers pause, sickle in hand, to hear him recite verses of poetry or passages from the Bible. In February, 1797, his father sent him to Boscawen, where he continued his studies under the tuition of the Rev. Samuel Wood. Although Ebenezer Webster found it difficult, by unremitting labor and strictest economy, to support his numerous family, he still saw such signs of promise in Daniel as to convince him that it was worth while, at whatever sacrifice, to send him to college. In view of this decision, he took him from school, to hasten his preparation under a private tutor, and on the journey to Boscawen he informed Daniel of his plans. The warm-hearted boy, who had hardly dared hope for such good fortune, and keenly felt the sacrifice it involved, laid his head upon his father's shoulder and burst into tears. After six months with his tutor he had learned enough to fulfil the slender requirements of those days for admission to Dartmouth, where he was duly graduated in 1801. At college, although industrious and punctual in attendance and soon found to be very quick at learning, he was not regarded as a thorough scholar. He had not, indeed, the scholarly temperament—that rare combination of profound insight, sustained attention, microscopic accuracy, iron tenacity, and disinterested pursuit of truth—which characterizes the great scientific discoverer or the great historian. But, while he had not these qualities in perfect combination—and no one knew this better than Mr. Webster himself—there was much about him that made him more interesting and remarkable, even at that early age, than if he had been consummate in scholarship. He was capable of great industry, he seized an idea with astonishing quickness, his memory was prodigious, and for power of lucid and convincing statement he was unrivalled. With these rare gifts he possessed that supreme poetic quality that defies analysis, but is at once recognized as genius. He was naturally, therefore, considered by tutors and fellow-students the most remarkable man in the college, and the position of superiority thus early gained was easily maintained by him through life and wherever he was placed. While at college he conquered or outgrew his boyish shyness, so as to take pleasure in public speaking, and his eloquence soon attracted so much notice that in 1800 the townspeople of Hanover selected this undergraduate to deliver the Fourth-of-July oration. It has been well pointed out by Henry Cabot Lodge that “the enduring work which Mr. Webster did in the world, and his meaning and influence in American history, are all summed up in the principles enunciated in that boyish speech at Hanover,” which “preached love of country, the grandeur of American nationality, fidelity to the constitution as the bulwark of nationality, and the necessity and the nobility of the union of the states.” After leaving college, Mr. Webster began studying law in the office of Thomas W. Thompson, of Salisbury, who was afterward U.S. senator. Some time before this he had made up his mind to help his elder brother, Ezekiel, to go through college, and for this purpose he soon found it necessary to earn money by teaching school. After some months of teaching at Fryeburg, Me., he returned to Mr. Thompson's office. In July, 1804, he went to Boston in search of employment in some office where he might complete his studies. He there found favor with Christopher Gore, who took him into his office as student and clerk. In March, 1805, Mr. Webster was admitted to the bar, and presently he began practising his profession at Boscawen. In 1807, having acquired a fairly good business, he turned it over to his brother, Ezekiel, and removed to Portsmouth, where his reputation grew rapidly, so that he was soon considered a worthy antagonist to Jeremiah Mason, one of the ablest lawyers this country has ever produced. In June, 1808, he married Miss Grace Fletcher, of Hopkinton, N. H.

His first important political pamphlet, published that year, was a criticism on the embargo. In 1812, in a speech before the Washington benevolent society at Portsmouth, he summarized the objections of the New England people to the war just declared against Great Britain. He was immediately afterward chosen delegate to a convention of the people of Rockingham county, and drew up the so-called “Rockingham Memorial,” addressed to President Madison, which contained a formal protest against the war. In the following autumn was elected to congress, and on taking his seat, in May, 1813, he was placed on the committee on foreign relations. His first step in congress was the introduction of a series of resolutions aimed at the president, and calling for a statement of the time and manner in which Napoleon's pretended revocation of his decrees against American shipping had been announced to the United States. His first great speech, 14 Jan., 1814, was in opposition to the bill for encouraging enlistments, and at the close of that year he opposed Sec. Monroe’s measures for enforcing what was khown as the “draft of 1814.” Mr. Webster's attitude toward the administration was that of the Federalist party to which he belonged; but he did not go so far as the leaders of that party in New England. He condemned the embargo as more harmful to ourselves than to the enemy, as there is no doubt it was; he disapproved the policy of invading Canada, and maintained that our wisest course was to increase the strength of the navy, and on these points history will probably judge him to have been correct. But in his opinion, that the war itself was unnecessary and injurious to the country, he was probably, like most New Englanders of that time, mistaken. Could he have foreseen and taken into account. the rapid and powerful development of national feeling in the United States which the war called forth, it would have modified his view, for it is clear that the war party, represented by Henry Clay and his friends, was at that moment the truly national party, and Mr. Webster's sympathies were then, as always, in favor of the broadest nationalism, and entirely opposed to every sort of sectional or particularist policy. This broad, national spirit, which was strong enough in the two Adamses to sever their connection with the Federalists of New England, led Mr. Webster to use his influence successfully to keep New Hampshire out of the Hartford convention. In the 13th congress, however, he voted 191 times on the same side with Timothy Pickering, and only 4 times on the opposite side. In this and the next congress the most important work done by Mr. Webster was concerned with the questions of currency and a national bank. He did good service in killing the pernicious scheme for a bank endowed with the power of issuing irredeemable notes and obliged to lend money to the government. He was disposed to condemn outright the policy of allowing the government to take part in the management of the bank. He also opposed a protective tariff, but, by supporting Mr. Calhoun's bill for internal improvements, he put himself on record as a loose constructionist. His greatest service was unquestionably his resolution of 26 April, 1816, requiring that all payments to the national treasury must be made in specie or its equivalents. This resolution, which he supported in a very powerful speech, was adopted the same day by a large majority, and its effect upon the currency was speedily beneficial. In the course of this session he declined, with grim humor, a challenge sent him by John Randolph.

In June, 1816, he removed to Boston, and at the expiration of his second term in congress, 4 March, 1817, he retired for a while to private life. His reason for retiring was founded in need of money and the prospect of a great increase in his law-practice. On his removal to Boston this prospect was soon realized in an income of not less than $20,000 a year. One of the first cases upon which he was now engaged was the famous Dartmouth college affair. While Mr. Webster's management of this case went far toward placing him at the head of the American bar, the political significance of its decision was such as to make it an important event in the history of the United States. It shows Mr. Webster not only as a great constitutional lawyer and consummate advocate, but also as a powerful champion of Federalism. In its origin Dartmouth college was a missionary school for Indians, founded in 1754 by the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, at Lebanon, Conn. After a few years funds were raised by private subscription for the purpose of enlarging the school into a college, and as the Earl of Dartmouth had been one of the chief contributors, Dr. Wheelock appointed him and other persons trustees of the property. The site of the college was fixed in New Hampshire, and a royal charter in 1769 created it a perpetual corporation. The charter recognized Wheelock as founder, and appointed him president, with power to name his successor, subject to confirmation by the trustees. Dr. Wheelock devised the presidency to his son, John Wheelock, who accordingly became his successor. The charter, in expressly forbidding the exclusion of any person on account of his religious belief, reflected the broad and tolerant disposition of Dr. Wheelock, who was a liberal Presbyterian, and as such had been engaged in prolonged controversy with that famous representative of the strictest Congregationalism, Dr. Joseph Bellamy. In 1793 Bellamy's pupil, Nathaniel Niles, became a trustee of Dartmouth, and between him and John Wheelock the old controversy was revived and kept up with increasing bitterness for several years, dividing the board of trustees into two hostile parties. At length, in 1809, the party opposed to President Wheelock gained a majority in the board, and thus became enabled in various ways to balk and harass the president, until in 1815 the quarrel broke forth into a war of pamphlets and editorial articles that convulsed the whole state of New Hampshire. The Congregational church was at that time the established church in New Hampshire, supported by taxation, and the Federalist party found its strongest adherents among the members of that church. Naturally, therefore, the members of other churches, and persons opposed on general principles to the establishment of a state church, were inclined to take sides with the Republicans. In 1815 President Wheelock petitioned the legislature for a committee to investigate the conduct of the trustees, whom he accused of various offences, from intolerance in matters of religion to improper management of the funds. Thus the affair soon became a party question, in whieh the Federalists upheld the trustees, while the Republicans sympathized with the president. The legislature granted the petition for a committee, but the trustees forthwith, in a somewhat too rash spirit of defiance, deposed Mr. Wheelock and chose a new president, the Rev. Francis Brown. In the ensuing state election Mr. Wheelock and his sympathizers went over to the Republicans, who thus succeeded in electing their candidate for governor, with a majority of the legislature. In June, 1816, the new legislature passed an act reorganizing the college, and a new board of trustees was at once appointed by the governor. Judge Woodward, secretary of the old board, went over to the new board, and became its secretary, taking with him the college seal. The new board proceeded to expel the old board, which forthwith brought suit against Judge Woodward in an action of trover for the college seal. The case was tried in May, 1817, with those two great lawyers, Jeremiah Mason and Jeremiah Smith, as counsel for the plaintiffs. It was then postponed till September, when Mr. Webster was secured by the plaintiffs as an additional counsel. The plaintiffs contended that, in the case of a corporation chartered for private uses, any alleged misconduct of the trustees was properly a question for the courts, and not for the legislature, which in meddling with such a question plainly transcended its powers. Their chief reliance was upon this point, but they also contended that the act of legislature reorganizing the college was an act impairing the obligation of a contract, and therefore a violation of the constitution of the United States. The state court at Exeter decided against the plaintiffs, and the point last mentioned enabled them to carry up their case to the supreme court of the United States. As the elder counsel were unable to go to Washington, it fell to Mr. Webster to conduct the case, which was tried in March, 1818. Mr. Webster argued that the charter of Partmouth college created a private corporation for administering a charity; that in the administration of such uses the trustees have a recognized right of property; that the grant of such a charter is a contract between the sovereign power and the grantees, and descends to their successors; and that, therefore, the act of the New Hampshire legislature, in taking away the government from one board of trustees and conferring it upon another, was a violation of contract. These points were defended by Mr. Webster with masterly cogency, and re-enforced by illustrations calculated to appeal to the Federalist sympathies of the chief justice. He possessed in the highest degree the art of so presenting a case that the mere statement seemed equivalent to demonstration, and never did he exhibit that art in greater perfection or use it to better purpose than in this argument. A few sentences at the close, giving utterance to deep emotion, left judges and audience in tears. The decision, rendered in the autumn, sustained Mr. Webster and set aside the act of the legislature as unconstitutional. It was one of those far-reaching decisions in which the supreme court, under John Marshall, fixed the interpretation of the constitution in such wise as to add greatly to its potency as a fundamental instrument of government. The clause prohibiting state legislation in impairment of contracts, like most such general provisions, stood in need of judicial decisions to determine its scope. By bringing under the protection of this clause every charter granted by a state, the decision in the Dartmouth college case went further perhaps than any other in our history toward limiting state sovereignty and extending the jurisdiction of the Federal supreme court.

In the Massachusetts convention of 1820 for revising the state constitution Mr. Webster played an important part. He advocated with success the abolition of religious tests for office-holders, and in a speech in support of the feature of property-representation in the senate he examined the theory and practice of bicameral legislation. His discussion of that subject is well worthy of study. In the same year, at the celebration of the second centennial of the landing of the Pilgrims, his commemorative oration was one of the noblest ever delivered. In 1825, on the laying of the corner-stone of Bunker Hill monument (see illustration), he attained still higher perfection of eloquence; and one year later, on the deaths of Adams and Jefferson, his eulogy upon those statesmen completed a trio of historical addresses unsurpassed in splendor. The spirit of these orations is that of the broadest patriotism, enlightened by a clear perception of the fundamental importance of the Federal union between the states and an ever-present consciousness of the mighty future of our country and its moral significance in the history of the world. Such topics have often been treated as commonplaces and made the theme of vapid rhetoric; but under Daniel Webster's treatment they acquired a philosophical value and were fraught with most serious and earnest meaning. These orations were conceived in a spirit of religious devotion to the Union, and contributed powerfully toward awakening such a sentiment in those who read them afterward, while upon those who heard them from the lips of the majestic speaker the impression was such as could never be effaced. The historian must assign to them a high place among the literary influences that aroused in the American people a sentiment of union strong enough to endure the shock of civil war.

In 1822 Mr. Webster was elected to congress from the Boston district, and he was twice reelected by a popular vote that was almost unanimous. When he took his seat in congress in December, 1823, the speaker, Henry Clay, appointed him chairman of the judiciary committee. In that capacity he prepared and carried through the “Crimes act,” which was substantially a thorough remodelling of the criminal jurisprudence of the United States. The preparation of this bill showed in the highest degree his constructive genius as a legislator, while in carrying it through congress his parliamentary skill and persuasiveness in debate were equally conspicuous. In 1825 he prepared a bill for increasing the number of supreme court judges to ten, for making ten Federal circuits, and otherwise strengthening the working capacity of the court; but this bill, after passing the house, was lost in the senate. Of his two most celebrated speeches in congress during this period, the first was on the revolution in Greece. Mr. Webster moved, 19 Jan., 1824, the adoption of his own resolution in favor of making provision for a commissioner to Greece should President Monroe see fit to appoint one. In his speech on this occasion he set forth the hostility of the American people to the principles, motives, and methods of the “Holy Alliance,” and their sympathy with such struggles for self-government as that in which the Greeks were engaged. The resolution was not adopted, but Mr. Webster's speech made a profound impression at home and abroad. It was translated into several European languages, and called forth much foreign comment. The other great speech, delivered on 1 and 2 April, 1824, was what is commonly called his “free-trade speech.” A bill had been introduced for revising the tariff in such a way as to extend the operation of the protecive system. In this speech Mr. Webster found fault with the phrase “American policy,” as applied by Mr. Clay to the system of high protective duties. “If names are thought necessary,” said Mr. Webster, “it would be well enough, one would think, that the name should be in some measure descriptive of the thing; and since Mr. Speaker denominates the policy which he recommends a ‘new policy in this country’; since he speaks of the present measure as a new era in our legislation; since he professes to invite us to depart from our accustomed course, to instruct ourselves by the wisdom of others, and to adopt the policy of the most distinguished foreign states—one is a little curious to know with what propriety of speech this imitation of other nations is denominated an ‘American policy,’ while, on the contrary, a preference for our own established system, as it now actually exists and always has existed, is called a ‘foreign policy.’ This favorite American policy is what America has never tried; and this odious foreign policy is what, as we are told, foreign states have never pursued. Sir, that is the truest American policy which shall most usefully employ American capital and American labor.” After this exordium, Mr. Webster went on to give a masterly exposition of some of the elementary theorems of political economy and a survey, at once comprehensive and accurate, of the condition of American industry at the time. He not only attacked Mr. Clay's policy on broad national grounds, but also showed more specifically that it was likely to prove injurious to the maritime commerce in which the New England states had so long taken the lead; and he concluded by characterizing that policy as “so burdensome and so dangerous to the interest which has steadily enriched, gallantly defended, and proudly distinguished us, that nothing can prevail upon me to give it my support.” Upon this last clause of his speech he was afterward enabled to rest a partial justification of his change of attitude toward the tariff. The other chief incidents in his career in the house of representatives were his advocacy of a national bankrupt law, his defence of William H. Crawford, secretary of the treasury, against sundry charges brought against him by Ninian Edwards (q. v.), lately senator from Illinois, and his defence of President Adams's policy in the matter of Georgia and the Creek Indians.

In politics Mr. Webster occupied at this time an independent position. The old Federalist party, to which he had formerly belonged, was completely broken down, and the new National Republican party, with its inheritance of many of the principles, motives, and methods of the Federalists, was just beginning to take shape under the leadership of Adams and Clay. Between these eminent statesmen and Mr. Webster the state of feeling was not such as to insure cordial co-operation, but in their views of government there was similarity enough to bring them together in opposition to the new Democratic party represented by Jackson, Benton, and Van Buren. With the extreme southern views of Crawford and Calhoun it was impossible that he should sympathize, although his personal relations with those leaders were quite friendly, and after the death of Calhoun, the noblest eulogium upon his character and motives was made by Mr. Webster. There is a sense in which all American statesmen may be said to be intellectually the descendants and disciples either of Jefferson or of Hamilton, and as a representative follower of Hamilton, Mr. Webster was sure to be drawn rather toward Clay than toward Jackson. The course of industrial events in New England was such as to involve changes of opinion in that part of the country, which were soon reflected in a complete reversal of Mr. Webster's attitude toward the tariff. In 1827 he was elected to the U.S. senate. In that year an agitation was begun by the woollen-manufacturers, which soon developed into a promiscuous scramble among different industries for aid from government, and finally resulted in the tariff of 1828. That act, which was generally known at the time as “the tariff of abominations,” was the first extreme application of the protective system in our Federal legislation. When the bill was pending before the senate in April, 1828, Mr. Webster made a memorable speech, in which he completely abandoned the position he had held in 1824, and from this time forth he was a supporter of the policy of Mr. Clay and the protectionists. For this change of attitude he was naturally praised by his new allies, who were glad to interpret it as a powerful argument in favor of their views. By every one else he was blamed, and this speech has often been cited, together with that of 7 March, 1850, as proving that Mr. Webster was governed by unworthy motives and wanting in political principle. The two cases, as we shall see, are not altogether parallel. Probably neither admits of entire justification, but in neither case did Mr. Webster attempt to conceal or disguise his real motives. In 1828 he frankly admitted that the policy of protection to manufactures by means of tariff duties was a policy of which he had disapproved, whether as a political economist or as a representative of the interests of New England. Against his own opposition and that of New England, the act of 1824 had passed. “What, then, was New England to do? . . . Was she to hold out forever against the course of the government, and see herself losing on one side and yet make no effort to sustain herself on the other? No, sir. Nothing was left for New England but to conform herself to the will of others. Nothing was left to her but to consider that the government had fixed and determined its own policy; and that policy was protection.” In other words, the tariff policy adopted at Washington, while threatening the commercial interests of New England, had favored the investment of capital in manufactures there, and it was not becoming in a representative of New England to take part in disturbing the new arrangement of things. This argument, if pushed far enough, would end in the doctrine—now apparently obsolete, though it has often been attacked and defended—that a senator is simply the minister of his state in congress. With Mr. Webster it went so far as to modify essentially his expressions of opinion as to the constitutionality of protective legislation. He had formerly been inclined to interpret the constitution strictly upon this point, but in 1828 and afterward his position was that of the loose constructionists. Here the strong Federalist bias combined with that temperament which has sometimes been called “opportunism” to override his convictions upon the economic merits of the question.

This tariff of 1828 soon furnished an occasion for the display of Mr. Webster's strong Federalist spirit in a way that was most serviceable for his country and has earned for him undying fame as an orator and statesman. It led to the announcement of the principles of nullification by the public men of South Carolina, with Mr. Calhoun at their head. During President Jackson's first term the question as to nullification seemed to occupy everybody's thoughts and had a way of intruding upon the discussion of all other questions. In December, 1829, Samuel A. Foote, of Connecticut, presented to the senate a resolution inquiring into the expediency of limiting the sales of the public lands to those already in the market, besides suspending the surveys of the public lands and abolishing the office of surveyor-general. The resolution was quite naturally resented by the western senators as having a tendency to check the growth of their section of the country. The debate was opened by Mr. Benton, and lasted several weeks, with increasing bitterness. The belief in the hostility of the New England states toward the west was shared by many southern senators, who desired to unite south and west in opposition to the tariff. On 19 Jan., 1830, Robert Y. Hayne, of South Carolina, attacked the New England states, accusing them of aiming by their protective policy at aggrandizing themselves at the expense of all the rest of the Union. On the next day Mr. Webster delivered his “first speech on Foote's resolution,” in which he took up Mr. Hayne's accusations and answered them with great power. This retort provoked a long and able reply from Mr. Hayne, in which he not only assailed Mr. Webster and Massachusetts and New England, but set forth quite ingeniously and elaborately the doctrines of nullification. In view of the political agitation then going on in South Carolina, it was felt that this speech would work practical mischief unless it should meet with instant refutation. It was finished on 25 Jan., and on the next two days Mr. Webster delivered his “second speech on Foote's resolution,” better known in history as the “Reply to Hayne.” The debate had now lasted so long that people had come from different parts of the country to Washington to hear it, and on 26 Jan. the crowd not only filled the galleries and invaded the floor of the senate-chamber, but occupied all the lobbies and entries within hearing and even beyond. In the first part of his speech Mr. Webster replied to the aspersions upon himself and New England; in the second part he attacked with weighty argument and keen-edged sarcasm the doctrine of nullification. He did not undertake to deny the right of revolution as a last resort in cases with which legal and constitutional methods are found inadequate to deal; but he assailed the theory of the constitution maintained by Calhoun and his followers, according to which nullification was a right, the exercise of which was compatible with loyal adherence to the constitution. His course of argument was twofold; he sought to show, first, that the theory of the constitution as a terminable league or compact between sovereign states was unsupported by the history of its origin, and, secondly, that the attempt on the part of any state to act upon that theory must necessarily entail civil war or the disruption of the Union. As to the sufficiency of his historical argument there has been much difference of opinion. The question is difficult to deal with in such a way as to reach an unassailable conclusion, and the difficulty is largely due to the fact that in the various ratifying conventions of 1787-'9 the men who advocated the adoption of the constitution did not all hold the same opinions as to the significanee of what they were doing. There was great divergence of opinion, and plenty of room for antagonisms of interpretation to grow up as irreconcilable as those of Webster and Calhoun. If the South Carolina doctrine distorted history in one direction, that of Mr. Webster probably departed somewhat from the record in the other; but the latter was fully in harmony with the actual course of our national development, and with the increased and increasing strength of the sentiment of union at the time when it was propounded with such powerful reasoning and such magnificent eloquence in the “Reply to Hayne.” As an appeal to the common sense of the American people, nothing could be more masterly than Mr. Webster's demonstration that nullification practically meant revolution, and their unalterable opinion of the soundness of his argument was amply illustrated when at length the crisis came which he deprecated with such intensity of emotion in his concluding sentences. To some of the senators who listened to the speech, as, for instance, Thomas H. Benton, it seemed as if the passionate eloquence of its close concerned itself with imaginary dangers never likely to be realized; but the event showed that Mr. Webster estimated correctly the perilousness of the doctrine against which he was contending. For genuine oratorical power, the “Reply to Hayne” is probably the greatest speech that has been delivered since the oration of Demosthenes on the crown. The comparison is natural, as there are points in the American orator that forcibly remind one of the Athenian. There is the fine sense of proportion and fitness, the massive weight of argument due to transparent clearness and matchless symmetry of statement, and along with the rest a truly Attic simplicity of diction. Mr. Webster never indulged in mere rhetorical flights; his sentences, simple in structure and weighted with meaning, went straight to the mark, and his arguments were so skilfully framed that while his most learned and critical hearers were impressed with a sense of their conclusiveness, no man of ordinary intelligence could fail to understand them. To these high qualifications of the orator was added such a physical presence as but few men have been endowed with. Mr. Webster's appearance was one of unequalled dignity and power, his voice was rich and musical, and the impressiveness of his delivery was enhanced by the depth of genuine manly feeling with which he spoke. Yet while his great speeches owed so much of their overpowering effect to the look and manner of the man, they were at the same time masterpieces of literature. Like the speeches of Demosthenes, they were capable of swaying the reader as well as the hearer, and their effects went far beyond the audience and far beyond the occasion of their delivery. In all these respects the “Reply to Hayne” marks the culmination of Mr. Webster's power as an orator. Of all the occasions of his life, this encounter with the doctrine of nullification on its first bold announcement in the senate was certainly the greatest, and the speech was equal to the occasion. It struck a chord in the heart of the American people which had not ceased to vibrate when the crisis came thirty years later. It gave articulate expression to a sentiment of loyalty to the Union that went on growing until the American citizen was as prompt to fight for the Union as the Mussulman for his prophet or the cavalier for his king. It furnished, moreover, a clear and comprehensive statement of the theory by which that sentiment of loyalty was justified. Of the men who in after-years gave up their lives for the Union, doubtless the greater number had as school-boys declaimed passages from this immortal speech and caught some inspiration from its fervid patriotism. Probably no other speech ever made in congress has found so many readers or exerted so much influence in giving shape to men's thoughts.

Three years afterward Mr. Webster returned to struggle with nullification, being now pitted against the master of that doctrine instead of the disciple. In the interval South Carolina had attempted to put the doctrine into practice, and had been resolutely met by President Jackson with his proclamation of 10 Dec., 1832. In response to a special message from the president, early in January, 1833, the so-called “Force bill,” empowering the president to use the army and navy, if necessary, for enforcing the revenue laws in South Carolina, was reported in the senate. The bill was opposed by Democrats who did not go so far as to approve of nullification, but the defection of these senators was more than balanced by the accession of Mr. Webster, who upon this measure came promptly to the support of the administration. For this, says Benton, “his motives . . . were attacked, and he was accused of subserviency to the president for the sake of future favor. At the same time all the support which he gave to these measures was the regular result of the principles which he laid down against nullification in the debate with Mr. Hayne, and he could not have done less without being derelict to his own principles then avowed. It was a proud era in his life, supporting with transcendent ability the cause of the constitution and of the country, in the person of a chief magistrate to whom he was politically opposed, bursting the bonds of party at the call of duty, and displaying a patriotism worthy of admiration and imitation. Gen. Jackson felt the debt of gratitude and admiration which he owed him; the country, without distinction of party, felt the same. . . . He was the colossal figure on the political stage during that eventful time; and his labors, splendid in their day, survive for the benefit of distant posterity” (“Thirty Years’ View,” i., 334). The support of the president's policy by Mr. Webster, and its enthusiastic approval by nearly all the northern and a great many of the southern people, seems to have alarmed Mr. Calhoun, probably not so much for his personal safety as for the welfare of his nullification schemes. The story that he was frightened by the rumor that Jackson had threatened to begin by arresting him on a charge of treason is now generally discredited. He had seen enough, however, to convince him that the theory of peaceful nullification was not now likely to be realized. It was not his aim to provoke an armed collision, and accordingly a momentary alliance was made between himself and Mr. Clay, resulting in the compromise tariff bill of 12 Feb., 1833. Only four days elapsed between Mr. Webster's announcement of his intention to support the president and the introduction of this compromise measure. Mr. Webster at once opposed the compromise, both as unsound economically and as an unwise and dangerous concession to the threats of the nullifiers. At this point the Force bill was brought forward, and Mr. Calhoun made his great speech, 15-16 Feb., in support of the resolutions he had introduced on 22 Jan., affirming the doctrine of nullification. To this Mr. Webster replied, 16 Feb., with his speech entitled “The Constitution not a Compact between Sovereign States,” in which he supplemented and re-enforced the argument of the “Reply to Hayne.” Mr. Calhoun's answer, 26 Feb., was perhaps the most powerful speech he ever delivered, and Mr. Webster did not reply to it at length. The burden of the discussion was what the American people really did when they adopted the Federal constitution. Did they simply create a league between sovereign states, or did they create a national government, which operates immediately upon individuals, and, without superseding the state governments, stands superior to them, and claims a prior allegiance from all citizens? It is now plain to be seen that in point of fact they did create such a national government; but how far they realized at the outset what they were doing is quite another question. Mr. Webster's main conclusion was sustained with colossal strength; but his historical argument was in some places weak, and the weakness is unconsciously betrayed in a disposition toward wire-drawn subtlety, from which Mr. Webster was usually quite free. His ingenious reasoning upon the meaning of such words as “compact” and “accede” was easily demolished by Mr. Calhoun, who was, however, more successful in hitting upon his adversary's vulnerable points than in making good his own case. In fact, the historical question was not really so simple as it presented itself to the minds of those two great statesmen. But in whatever way it was to be settled, the force of Mr. Webster's practical conclusions remained, as he declared in the brief rejoinder with which he ended the discussion: “Mr. President, turn this question over and present it as we will—argue it as we may—exhaust upon it all the fountains of metaphysics—stretch over it all the meshes of logical or political subtlety—it still comes to this: Shall we have a general government? Shall we continue the union of the states under a government instead of a league? This is the upshot of the whole matter; because, if we are to have a government, that government must act like other governments, by majorities; it must have this power, like other governments, of enforcing its own laws and its own decisions; clothed with authority by the people and always responsible to the people, it must be able to hold its course unchecked by external interposition. According to the gentleman's views of the matter, the constitution is a league; according to mine, it is a regular popular government. This vital and all-important question the people will decide, and in deciding it they will determine whether, by ratifying the present constitution and frame of government, they meant to do nothing more than to amend the articles of the old confederation.” As the immediate result of the debates, both the Force bill and the Compromise tariff bill were adopted, and this enabled Mr. Calhoun to maintain that the useful and conservative character of nullification had been demonstrated, since the action of South Carolina had, without leading to violence, led to such modifications of the tariff as she desired. But the abiding result was, that Webster had set forth the theory upon which the Union was to be preserved, and that the administration, in acting upon that theory, had established an extremely valuable precedent for the next administration that should be called upon to meet a similar crisis.

The alliance between Mr. Webster and President Jackson extended only to the question of maintaining the Union. As an advocate of the policy of a national bank, a protective tariff, and internal improvements, Mr. Webster's natural place was by the side of Mr. Clay in the Whig party, which was now in the process of formation. He was also at one with both the northern and the southern sections of the Whig party in opposition to what Mr. Benton called the “demos krateo” principle, according to which the president, in order to carry out the “will of the people,” might feel himself authorized to override the constitutional limitations upon his power. This was not precisely what Mr. Benton meant by his principle, but it was the way in which it was practically illustrated in Jackson's war against the bank. In the course of this struggle Mr. Webster made more than sixty speeches, remarkable for their wide and accurate knowledge of finance. His consummate mastery of statement is nowhere more thoroughly exemplified than in these speeches. Constitutional questions were brought up by Mr. Clay's resolutions censuring the president for the removal of the deposits, and for dismissing William J. Duane, secretary of the treasury. In reply to the resolutions, President Jackson sent to the senate his remarkable “Protest,” in which he maintained that in the mere discussion of such resolutions that body transcended its constitutional prerogatives, and that the president is the “direct representative of the American people,” charged with the duty, if need be, of protecting them against the usurpations of congress. The Whigs maintained, with much truth, that this doctrine, if carried out in all its implications, would push democracy to the point where it merges in Cæsarism. It was now that the opposition began to call themselves Whigs, and tried unsuccessfully to stigmatize the president's supporters as “Tories.” Mr. Webster's speech on the president's protest, 7 May, 1834, was one of great importance, and should be read by every student of our constitutional history. In another elaborate speech, 16 Feb., 1835, he tried to show that under a proper interpretation of the constitution the power of removal, like the power of appointment, was vested in the president and senate conjointly, and that “the decision of congress in 1789, which separated the power of removal from the power of appointment, was founded on an erroneous construction of the constitution.” But subsequent opinion has upheld the decision of 1789, leaving the speech to serve as an illustration of the way in which, under the stress of a particular contest, the Whigs were as ready to strain the constitution in one direction as the Democrats were inclined to bend it in another. An instance of the latter kind was Mr. Benton's expunging resolution, against which Mr. Webster emphatically protested.

About this time Mr. Webster was entertaining thoughts of retiring, for a while at least, from public life. As he said, in a letter to a friend, he had not for fourteen years had leisure to attend to his private affairs, or to become acquainted by travel with his own country. This period had not, however, been entirely free from professional work. It was seldom that Mr. Webster took part in criminal trials, but in this department of legal practice he showed himself qualified to take rank with the greatest advocates that have ever addressed a jury. His speech for the prosecution, on the trial of the murderers of Capt. Joseph White, at Salem, in August, 1830, has been pronounced superior to the finest speeches of Lord Erskine. In the autumn of 1824, while driving in a chaise with his wife from Sandwich to Boston, he stopped at the beautiful farm of Capt. John Thomas, by the sea-shore at Marshfield. For the next seven years his family passed their summers at this place as guests of Capt. Thomas; and, as the latter was growing old and willing to be eased of the care of the farm, Mr. Webster bought it of him in the autumn of 1831. Capt. Thomas continued to live there until his death, in 1837, as Mr. Webster's guest. For the latter it became the favorite home whither he retired in the intervals of public life. It was a place, he said, where he “could go out every day in the year and see something new.” Mr. Webster was very fond of the sea. He had also a passion for country life, for all the sights and sounds of the farm, for the raising of fine animals, as well as for hunting and fishing. The earlier years of Mr. Webster's residence at Marshfield, and of his service in the U. S. senate, witnessed some serious events in his domestic life. Death removed his wife, 21 Jan., 1828, and his brother Ezekiel, 10 April, 1829. In December, 1829, he married Miss Caroline Le Roy, daughter of a wealthy merchant in New York. Immediately after this second marriage came the “Reply to Hayne.” The beginning of a new era in his private life coincided with the beginning of a new era in his career as a statesman. After 1830 Mr. Webster was recognized as one of the greatest powers in the nation, and it seemed natural that the presidency should be offered to such a man. His talents, however, were not those of a party leader, and the circumstances under which the Whig party was formed were not such as to place him at its head. The elements of which that party was made up were incongruous, the bond of union between them consisting chiefly of opposition to President Jackson's policy. In the election of 1836 they had not time in which to become welded together, and after the brief triumph of 1840 they soon fell apart again. In 1836 there was no general agreement upon a candidate. The northern Whigs, or National Republicans, supported by the anti-Masons, nominated Gen. William H. Harrison; the southern or “state-rights” Whigs nominated Hugh L. White; the legislature of Massachusetts nominated Mr. Webster, and he received the electoral vote of that state only. Over such an ill-organized opposition Mr. Van Buren easily triumphed. In March, 1837, on his way from Washington to Boston, Mr. Webster stopped in New York and made a great speech at Niblo's garden, in which he reviewed and criticised the policy of the late administration, with especial reference to its violent treatment of the bank. In the course of the speech he used language that was soon proved prophetic by the financial crisis of that year. In the summer he made a journey through the western states. In the next session of congress his most important speeches were those on the sub-treasury bill. The second of these, delivered 12 March, 1838, contained some memorable remarks on the course of Mr. Calhoun, who had now taken sides with the administration. No passage in all his speeches is more graphic than that in which, with playful sarcasm, he imagines Gen. Jackson as coming from his retirement at the Hermitage, walking into the senate-chamber, and looking across “to the seats on the other side.” The whole of that portion of the speech which relates to nullification is extremely powerful. Mr. Calhoun, in his reply, “carried the war into Africa,” and attacked Mr. Webster's record. He was answered, 22 March, by a speech that was a model for such parliamentary retorts. Mr. Webster never sneered at his adversaries, but always rendered them the full meed of personal respect that he would have demanded for himself. He discussed questions on their merits, and was too great to descend to recriminations. His Titanic power owed very little to the spirit of belligerency. Never was there an orator more urbane or more full of Christian magnanimity.

In the summer of 1839 Mr. Webster with his family visited England, where he was cordially received and greatly admired. On his return in December he learned that the Whigs had this time united upon Gen. Harrison for their candidate in the hope of turning to their own uses the same kind of unreflecting popular enthusiasm that had elected Jackson. The panic of 1837 aided them still more, and Mr. Webster made skilful use of it in a long series of campaign speeches, during the summer of 1840, in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. He accepted the office of secretary of state in President Harrison's administration, and soon showed himself as able in diplomacy as in other departments of statesmanship. There was a complication of difficulties with Great Britain which seemed to be bringing us to the verge of war. There was the longstanding dispute about the northeastern boundary, which had not been adequately defined by the treaty of 1783, and along with the renewal of this controversy came up the cases of McLeod and the steamer “Caroline,” the slave-ship “Creole,” and all the manifold complications that these cases involved. The Oregon question, too, was looming in the background. In disentangling these difficulties Mr. Webster showed wonderful tact and discretion. He was fortunately aided by the change of ministry in England, which transferred the management of foreign affairs from the hands of Lord Palmerston to those of Lord Aberdeen. Edward Everett was then in London, and Mr. Webster secured his appointment as minister to Great Britain. In response to this appointment, Lord Ashburton, whose friendly feeling toward the United States was known to every one, was sent over on a special mission to confer with Mr. Webster, and the result was the Ashburton treaty of 1842, by which an arbitrary and conventional line was adopted for the northeastern boundary, while the loss thereby suffered by the states of Maine and Massachusetts was to be indemnified by the United States. It was also agreed that Great Britain and the United States should each keep its own squadron to watch the coast of Africa for the suppression of the slave-trade, and that in this good work each nation should separately enforce its own laws. This clause of the treaty was known as the “cruising convention.” The old grievance of the impressment of seamen, which had been practically abolished by the glorious victories of American frigates in the war of 1812-'15, was now formally ended by Mr. Webster's declaration to Lord Ashburton that henceforth American vessels would not submit themselves to be searched. Henceforth the enforcement of the so-called “right of search” by a British ship would be regarded by the United States as a casus belli. When all the circumstances are considered, this Ashburton treaty shows that Mr. Webster's powers as a diplomatist were of the highest order. In the hands of an ordinary statesman the affair might easily have ended in a war; but his management was so dexterous that, as we now look back upon the negotiation, we find it hard to realize that there was any real danger. Perhaps there could be no more conclusive proof or more satisfactory measure of his really brilliant and solid success.

While these important negotiations were going on, great changes had come over the political horizon. There had been a quarrel between the northern and southern sections of the Whig party (see TYLER, JOHN), and on 11 Sept., 1841, all the members of President Tyler's cabinet, except Mr. Webster, resigned. It seems to have been believed by many of the Whigs that a unanimous resignation on the part of the cabinet would force President Tyler to resign. The idea came from a misunderstanding of the British custom in similar cases, and it is an incident of great interest to the student of American history; but there was not the slightest chance that it should be realized. Had there been any such chance, Mr. Webster defeated it by staying at his post in order to finish the treaty with Great Britain. The Whigs were inclined to attribute his conduct to unworthy motives, and no sooner had the treaty been signed, 9 Aug., 1842, than the newspapers began calling upon him to resign. The treaty was ratified in the senate by a vote of 39 to 9, but it had still to be adopted by parliament, and much needless excitement was occasioned on both sides of the ocean by the discovery of an old map in Paris, sustaining the British view of the northeastern boundary, and another in London, sustaining the American view. Mr. Webster remained at his post in spite of popular clamor until he knew the treaty to be quite safe. In the hope of driving him from the cabinet, the Whigs in Massachusetts held a convention and declared that President Tyler was no longer a member of their party. On a visit to Boston, Mr. Webster made a noble speech in Faneuil hall, 30 Sept., 1842, in the course of which he declared that he was neither to be coaxed nor driven into an action that in his own judgment was not conducive to the best interests of the country. He knew very well that by such independence he was likely to injure his chances for nomination to the presidency. He knew that a movement in favor of Mr. Clay had begun in Massachusetts, and that his own course was adding greatly to the impetus of that movement. But his patriotism rose superior to all personal considerations. In May, 1843, having seen the treaty firmly established, he resigned the secretaryship and returned to the practice of his profession in Boston. In the canvass of 1844 he supported Mr. Clay in a series of able speeches. On Mr. Choate's resignation, early in 1845, Mr. Webster was re-elected to the senate. The two principal questions of Mr. Polk's administration related to the partition of Oregon and the difficulties that led to war with Mexico. The Democrats declared that we must have the whole of Oregon up to the parallel of 54° 40', although the 49th parallel had already been suggested as a compromise-line. In a very able speech at Faneuil hall, Mr. Webster advocated the adoption of this compromise. The speech was widely read in England and on the continent of Europe, and Mr. Webster followed it by a private letter to Mr. Macgregor, of Glasgow, expressing a wish that the British government might see fit to offer the 49th parallel as a boundary-line. The letter was shown to Lord Aberdeen, who adopted the suggestion, and the dispute accordingly ended in the partition of Oregon between the United States and Great Britain. This successful interposition disgusted some Democrats who were really desirous of war with England, and Charles J. Ingersoll, member of congress from Pennsylvania and chairman of the committee on foreign affairs, made a scandalous attack upon Mr. Webster, charging him with a corrupt use of public funds. Mr. Webster replied in his great speech of 6 and 7 April, 1846, in defence of the Ashburton treaty. The speech was a triumphant vindication of his public policy, and in the thorough investigation of details that followed, Mr. Ingersoll's charges were shown to be utterly groundless.

During the operations on the Texas frontier, which brought on war with Mexico, Mr. Webster was absent from Washington. In the summer of 1847 he travelled through the southern states, and was everywhere received with much enthusiasm. He opposed the prosecution of the war for the sake of acquiring more territory, because he foresaw that such a policy must speedily lead to a dangerous agitation of the slavery question. The war brought Gen. Zachary Taylor into the foreground as a candidate for the presidency, and some of the Whig managers actually proposed to nominate Mr. Webster as vice-president on the same ticket with Gen. Taylor. He indignantly refused to accept such a proposal; but Mr. Clay's defeat in 1844 had made many Whigs afraid to take him again as a candidate. Mr. Webster was thought to be altogether too independent, and there was a feeling that Gen. Taylor was the most available candidate and the only one who could supplant Mr. Clay. These circumstances led to Taylor's nomination, which Mr. Webster at first declined to support. He disapproved of soldiers as presidents, and characterized the nomination as “one not fit to be made.” At the same time he was far from ready to support Mr. Van Buren and the Free-soil party, yet in his situation some decided action was necessary. Accordingly, in his speech at Marshfield, 1 Sept., 1848, he declared that, as the choice was really between Gen. Taylor and Gen. Cass, he should support the former. It has been contended that in this Mr. Webster made a great mistake, and that his true place in this canvass would have been with the Free-soil party. He had always been opposed to the further extension of slavery; but it is to be borne in mind that he looked with dread upon the rise of an anti-slavery party that should be supported only in the northern states. Whatever tended to array the north and the south in opposition to each other Mr. Webster wished especially to avoid. The ruling purpose of his life was to do what he could to prevent the outbreak of a conflict that might end in the disruption of the Union; and it may well have seemed that there was more safety in sustaining the Whig party in electing its candidate by the aid of southern votes than in helping into life a new party that should be purely sectional. At the same time, this cautious policy necessarily involved an amount of concession to southern demands far greater than the rapidly growing anti- slavery sentiment in the northern states would tolerate. No doubt Mr. Webster's policy in 1848 pointed logically toward his last great speech, 7 March, 1850, in which he supported Mr. Clay's elaborate compromises for disposing of the difficulties that had grown out of the vast extension of territory consequent upon the Mexican war. (See CLAY, HENRY.) This speech aroused intense indignation at the north, and especially in Massachusetts. It was regarded by many people as a deliberate sacrifice of principle to policy. Mr. Webster was accused of truckling to the south in order to obtain southern support for the presidency. Such an accusation seems inconsistent with Mr. Webster's character, and a comprehensive survey of his political career renders it highly improbable. The “Seventh-of-March.” speech may have been a political mistake; but one cannot read it to-day, with a clear recollection of what was thought and felt before the civil war, and doubt for a moment the speaker's absolute frankness and sincerity. He supported Mr. Clay's compromises because they seemed to him a conclusive settlement of the slavery question. The whole territory of the United States, as he said, was now covered with compromises, and the future destiny of every part, so far as the legal introduction of slavery was concerned, seemed to be decided. As for the regions to the west of Texas, he believed that slavery was ruled out by natural conditions of soil and climate, so that it was not necessary to protect them by a Wilmot proviso. As for the fugitive-slave law, it was simply a provision for carrying into effect a clause of the constitution, without which that instrument could never have been adopted, and in the frequent infraction of which Mr. Webster saw a serious danger to the continuance of the Union. He therefore accepted the fugitive-slave law as one feature in the proposed system of compromises; but, in accepting it, he offered amendments, which, if they had been adopted, would have gone far toward depriving it of some of its most obnoxious and irritating features. By adopting these measures of compromise, Mr. Webster believed that the extension of slavery would have been given its limit, that the north would, by reason of its free labor, increase in preponderance over the south, and that by and by the institution of slavery, hemmed in and denied further expansion, would die a natural death. That these views were mistaken, the events of the next ten years showed only too plainly, but there is no good reason for doubting their sincerity. There is little doubt, too, that the compromises had their practical value in postponing the inevitable conflict for ten years, during which the relative strength of the north was increasing and a younger generation was growing up less tolerant of slavery and more ready to discard palliatives and achieve a radical cure. So far as Mr. Webster's moral attitude was concerned, although he was not prepared for the bitter hostility that his speech provoked in many quarters, he must nevertheless have known that it was quite as likely to injure him at the north as to gain support for him in the south, and his resolute adoption of a policy that he regarded as national rather than sectional was really an instance of high moral courage. It was, however, a concession that did violence to his sentiments of humanity, and the pain and uneasiness it occasioned is visible in some of his latest utterances.

On President Taylor's death, 9 July, 1850, Mr. Webster became President Fillmore's secretary of state. An earnest attempt was made on the part of his friends to secure his nomination for the presidency in 1852; but on the first ballot in the convention he received only 29 votes, while there were 131 for Gen. Scott and 133 for Mr. Fillmore. The efforts of Mr. Webster's adherents succeeded only in giving the nomination to Scott. The result was a grave disappointment to Mr. Webster. He refused to support the nomination, and took no part in the campaign. His health was now rapidly failing. He left Washington, 8 Sept., for the last time, and returned to Marshfield, which he never left again, except on 20 Sept. for a brief call upon his physician in Boston. By his own request there were no public ceremonies at his funeral, which took place very quietly, 29 Sept., at Marshfield. The steel engraving of Webster is from a portrait made about 1840, the vignette from a painting by James B. Longacre, executed in 1833. The other illustrations represent the Bunker Hill monument, his residence and grave at Marshfield, and the imposing statue by Thomas Ball, erected in the Central park, New York. See Webster's “Works,” with biographical sketch by Edward Everett (6 vols., Boston, 1851); “Webster's Private Correspondence,” edited by Fletcher Webster (2 vols., Boston, 1856); George Ticknor Curtis's “Life of Webster” (2 vols., New York, 1870); Edwin P. Whipple’s “Great Speeches of Webster” (Boston, 1879); and Henry Cabot Lodge's “Webster,” in “American Statesmen' Series” (Boston, 1883).—Daniel's son, Fletcher, lawyer, b. in Portsmouth, N.H., 23 July, 1813; d. near Bull Run, Va., 30 Aug., 1862, was graduated at Harvard in 1833, studied law with his father, and was admitted to the bar. He was private secretary to his father during part of the latter's service as secretary of state, secretary of legation in China under Caleb Cushing in 1843, a member of the Massachusetts legislature in 1847, and from 1850 till 1861 surveyor of the port of Boston. He became colonel of the 12th Massachusetts regiment, 26 June, 1861, served in Virginia and Maryland, and was killed at the second battle of Bull Run. Besides editing his father's private correspondence, Col. Webster published an “Oration before the Authorities of the City of Boston, July 4, 1846.” Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 406-415.

Wendover, F. H., founding charter member of the American Colonization Society, Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

White, William, 1748-1836, Pennsylvania, Episcopal Bishop, Vice-President, 1833-37, and founding officer and head of the Philadelphia auxiliary of the American Colonization Society in 1817.  White supported missionary societies, and advocated colonization as a “safe, gradual, voluntary and entire emancipation of slavery.”  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 476-477; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 2, p. 121; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 39, 72, 213)

WHITE, William, P. E. bishop, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 4 April, 1748; d. there, 17 July, 1836. His father, Col. Thomas White, removed to Philadelphia from Maryland in 1745, and married Esther, widow of John Neuman, and daughter of Abraham Hewlings, of Burlington, N. J., 7 May, 1747. There were two children of this marriage, William, and Mary, who became the wife of Robert Morris. William entered the English department of the College and academy of Philadelphia at the age of seven, and at ten the Latin-school. He was graduated in 1765, and soon began his theological studies, which he completed in 1770. In October of this year he sailed for England to obtain holy orders, bringing such testimonials that, although he was several months under the required age, he obtained from the archbishop of Canterbury a faculty allowing him to be ordained. He was ordered deacon in the Chapel royal, St. James's palace, Westminster, 23 Dec., 1770, by Dr. Young, bishop of Norwich, acting for the bishop of London, who had episcopal oversight of all the colonies, and was ordained priest in the chapel of Fulham palace, 25 April, 1772, by the bishop of London. He sailed for this country, where he arrived on 13 Sept., and soon afterward became assistant minister of Christ and St. Peter's churches. On 11 Feb., 1773, he married Mary, daughter of Capt. Henry Harrison, mayor of Philadelphia. Within a few years he became rector of the united parishes of Christ, St. Peter's, and St. James's. The degree of D. D. was given him by the University of Pennsylvania in 1782, it being the first honorary degree of that college. All the clergy of Philadelphia sided with the colonies during the Revolution, none more zealously than Dr. White. Upon the occupation of Philadelphia by the British forces, he removed in September, 1777, to Harford county, Md., but he returned after the evacuation, and resumed his duties. Then began the long and trying struggle to sustain the life of the church, in which he took an active part. Almost despairing of success in obtaining the episcopate, which was essential to the reorganization of the church, Dr. White, in August, 1782, put forth a pamphlet with the title “The Case of the Episcopal Churches Considered” (Philadelphia, 1782), in which he advocated the appointment of superintendents, with similar powers, to take the place of bishops in the government of the church. This plan, which found favor largely in the middle and southern states, was bitterly opposed by the clergy of Connecticut, and negotiations for peace having advanced to the point of probability, the pamphlet was withdrawn from circulation, and the plan was abandoned. On 27 March, 1784, the clergy of the city of Philadelphia, and lay representatives from its parishes, met in Dr. White's study to take steps for the organization of the church in Pennsylvania, which meeting resulted in the assembling of a council in Christ church, 26 May, 1784, the first council in which laymen had been represented. Proposals were sent out to the churches in other states to meet in general convention, Dr. White's letters helping largely in bringing about this result. The first meeting of that body was held in New York in October, 1784, though delegates were sent only on the authority of their several parishes. On Tuesday, 27 Sept., 1785, clerical and lay deputies from several states met in Christ church, Philadelphia, and organized as a general convention, of which Dr. White was chosen president. Steps were taken at once by the appointment of committees to draft a constitution for the church, and to prepare a schedule of necessary alterations in the liturgy. Dr. White made the original draft of the constitution, and also prepared an address to the archbishops and bishops of the Church of England, asking for the episcopate at their hands. He was also largely instrumental in giving shape to the liturgy and offices of the Prayer-Book which were to be submitted to the authorities of the Church of England with the address. At the convention of the diocese of Pennsylvania in 1786 he was elected its first bishop, and sailed for England in company with Dr. Samuel Provoost, of New York, seeking consecration, arriving in London. 29 Nov., 1786. After many delays, and the passage of a special enabling act by parliament, he was, with Dr. Provoost, at last consecrated in the chapel of Lambeth palace, 4 Feb., 1787, by the archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Peterborough. He reached Philadelphia again on Easter Sunday, 7 April, 1787, and entered upon his trying duties, not the least of which concerned the recognition of the consecration of Bishop Seabury, in all of which his mild temper and broad charity were effective in restoring peace and harmony to the councils of the church. He was appointed chaplain to congress in 1787, which office he held till 1801. Besides his episcopal duties, he was foremost in many public charities and enterprises, and held the presidency of the Philadelphia Bible society, dispensary, Prison society, Asylum for the deaf and dumb, and Institution for the blind. He died at the advanced age of eighty-eight, after living to see the church in the states thoroughly organized and rapidly growing, and consecrating eleven bishops. His remains were buried in the church-yard of Christ church, but in December, 1870, were removed and placed beneath the floor of the chancel. The centennial anniversary of his consecration was appropriately celebrated in Lambeth palace, London, and in Christ church, Philadelphia. Besides the “Pastoral Letters” of the house of bishops (1808-1835), five addresses to the trustees, professors, and students of the General theological seminary (1822-'9), and episcopal charges, Bishop White published “Lectures on the Catechism” ( Philadelphia, 1813); “Comparative View of the Controversy between the Calvinists and the Arminians” (2 vols., 1817); “Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America” (1820; 2d ed., with continuation, New York, 1835); and “Commentary on Questions in the Ordination Offices” and “Commentary on Duties of Public Ministry” (1 vol., 1833). His “Opinions on Interchanging with Ministers of Non-Episcopal Communions, Extracted from his Charges, Addresses, Sermons, and Pastoral Letters,” appeared in 1868. See his life by Rev. Dr. Bird Wilson (Philadelphia, 1839). Portraits of Bishop White have been painted by Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Sully, and Henry Inman. The accompanying vignette is copied from a drawing by James B. Longacre. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Whittlesay, Chauncy, Middletown, Connecticut, lawyer.  Member, Connecticut auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.  Freed his slaves and sent them to Liberia.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 127)

Whittlesey, Elisha, 1783-1863, Canfield, Ohio, lawyer, U.S. Congressman.  Vice-President, American Colonization Society, 1836-41.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 495-496; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

WHITTLESEY, Elisha, lawyer, b. in Washington, Conn., 19 Oct., 1783; d. in Washington, D. C., 7 Jan., 1863. He was brought up on a farm, received an academical education, studied law, and on his admission to the bar began practice in Canfield, Ohio, in 1806. He served as an aide-de-camp during the war of 1812-'15, was for sixteen years prosecuting attorney of his district, a member of the Ohio state house of representatives in 1820-'l, and served in congress from Ohio by successive elections from 1 Dec., 1823, till 9 July, 1838, when he resigned. He was one of the founders of the Whig party, was appointed by President Harrison in 1841 auditor of the post-office department, and by President Taylor in 1849 first comptroller of the treasury, from which post he was removed by President Buchanan in 1857, but he was reappointed by President Lincoln in 1861, and held office till his death. In 1845 he was appointed general agent and director of the Washington national monument association, and contributed greatly to the success of that enterprise. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Wiley, John, founding charter member of the American Colonization Society in Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Wilkeson, Samuel, 1781-1848, Buffalo, New York, manufacturer, businessman, real estate, political leader, jurist, president, American Colonization Society (ACS).  Director of the ACS, 1839-1841, Member of the Executive Committee, 1839-1841.  (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 509-510; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 2, p. 218; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 237-239, 308)

WILKESON, Samuel, manufacturer, b. in Carlisle, Pa., in 1781; d. in the mountains of Tennessee in July, 1848. His father, John, a native of Ireland of Scotch descent, came to this country in 1760, settled in Delaware, and served against the British in the war of the Revolution. The son received few educational advantages, and worked on a farm till about 1806, when he began his career as a builder and owner of vessels and a trader on Lake Erie and elsewhere. During the war of 1812 he supplied Gen. William Henry Harrison with transports for the use of the troops in invading Canada. In 1814 he settled in Buffalo and engaged in business as a merchant. In 1819 he was an active advocate of the construction of the Erie canal, and in 1822 he was chiefly instrumental in securing the selection of Buffalo as its terminus. He was appointed first judge of the Erie court of common pleas in February, 1821, though he was without a legal education, was elected to the state senate in 1842, and served in that body and in the court for the correction of errors for six years. In 1836 he was elected mayor of Buffalo. He erected and put in operation a furnace in Mahoning county, Ohio, the first in this country to “blow in” on raw bituminous coal and smelt iron with that fuel uncoked, built the first iron-foundry in Buffalo, and established in that city the business of manufacturing steam-engines, stoves, and hollow-ware. He favored a system of gradual and compensated emancipation of the slaves, and advocated the colonization of the negroes on the west coast of Africa. He afterward removed to Washington, the headquarters of the American colonization society, over which he presided, for two years edited its organ, the “African Repository,” directed the affairs of the colony of Liberia, establishing commercial relations between it and Baltimore and Philadelphia, and gathered colonists wherever he could in the south. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI. pp. 509-510.

Williams, Anthony D., Vice Agent of the American Colonization Society, traveling in Boston, New York and Philadelphia.  Publicly debated the merits of the Society and its goals.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 211, 213)

Williams, Thomas, 1779-1876, Hartford, Connecticut, Providence, Rhode Island, clergyman, abolitionist. Manager, 1833-1834, and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.  Member of the Executive Committee of the American Colonization Society, 1840-1841.  (Dumond, 1961, p. 180; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 533; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

WILLIAMS, Thomas, clergyman, b. in Pomfret, Conn., 5 Nov., 1779; d. in Providence, R. I., 29 Sept., 1876. He studied for two years at Williams, then entered Yale, was graduated in 1800, and tanght at Beverly, Mass., and Woodstock and Norwich, Conn., till 1803, when he opened a school for colored pupils in Boston, Mass. He was there licensed in order to act as chaplain of the almshouse, was sent to New York state as a missionary in the same year, and repeated his tour in 1804 and 1805, after being ordained as an evangelist on 16 May, 1804. From 1807 till his death, except while officiating as pastor at Foxborough, Mass., in 1816-'21, at Attleborough in 1823-'7, at Hebronville in 1827-'30, and at Barrington, R. I., in 1835, he resided mainly at Providence, and, while holding no charge, preached to colored people and others through the state of Rhode Island. He drafted the articles of faith and the rules of the Rhode Island evangelical consociation, and was its first scribe. Of his many printed sermons, some of which were signed by the pen-name “Demens Egomet,” one was called “An Explicit Avowal of Nothingarianism,” another had the title “Jehovah, or Uni-trini-tarianism,” and others commemorated the first settlement of Rhode Island and the revival of religion in 1740. Several volumes of collected sermons were issued at various times. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI. pp. 533.

Wilmer, William Holland, Reverend, 1782-1827, Alexandria, Virginia, Episcopal clergyman, college president.  Charter member, co-founder and supporter of the American Colonization Society.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 543; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 2, p. 315; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 28, 48, 87, 137)

WILMER, William Holland, clergyman, b. in Kent county, Md., 29 Oct., 1782; d. in Williamsburg, Va., 24 July, 1827. His ancestors were early settlers of Maryland, and his uncle, James J. Wilmer, a clergyman of the Episcopal church, was secretary of the first meeting of the clergy of the United States in 1783. On his motion the “Church of England in the colonies” adopted the name of the Protestant Episcopal church. William was educated at Washington college in Kent county, and was for some time occupied in mercantile pursuits. He was admitted to orders in 1808 by Bishop Claggett, and was rector of Chester parish, Md., in 1808-'12, and of St. Paul's, Alexandria, Va., in 1812-'22. He was elected rector of St. John's, Washington city, in 1816, but declined. In 1819 he began the publication of the “Washington Theological Repertory,” and he continued in connection with it until 1826. During his pastorate in Alexandria he built the present St. Paul’s church, was an originator of the Education society of the District of Columbia, and its president for several years, aiding in preparing for orders the first graduates of the Virginia Protestant Episcopal seminary, of which he was a founder. When it was removed from Fairfax Court-House to Alexandria in 1823, he was appointed professor of systematic theology, ecclesiastical history, and church polity, and he was chosen assistant rector of the Monumental church, Richmond, Va., in 1826, but declined. The same year he became president of William and Mary college, and rector of the church in Williamsburg, which posts he held till his death. Dr. Wilmer was very active and efficient in trying to resuscitate the Episcopal church in Virginia, and used his pen freely and effectually. He was a delegate to general conventions in 1821-'6, and president of the house of clerical and lay deputies. He received the degree of D. D. from Brown in 1820. He published numerous sermons on special occasions (1813-'20); many able articles in the “Theological Repertory” (1819-'26); “Episcopal Manual” (1815); and “Controversy with Baxter, a Jesuit Priest” (1818). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Wilson, Thomas, Baltimore, Maryland, merchant.  Leader, Maryland State Colonization Society.  (Campbell, 1971, pp. 192, 207)

Wiltenberger, Christian, agent of the American Colonization society.  Went to Africa on the Society’s second expedition to Africa.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 62)

Winans, William, 1788-1857, Mississippi, clergyman.  American Colonization Society, Vice-President, 1838-1841.  Influential Episcopal churchman.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 559; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 2, p. 373; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

WINANS, William, clergyman, b. in Pennsylvania, 3 Nov., 1788; d. in Amite county, Miss., 31 Aug., 1857. He entered the Western conference of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1808, went to Mississippi as a missionary in 1812, was a pioneer of his church in that state and Louisiana, and took a conspicuous part in the organization of the Methodist Episcopal church, south. He exerted a wide influence in his denomination, and took part in the discussion of political questions. He published “Discourses on Fundamental Religious Subjects,” edited by the Rev. Thomas O. Summers, D. D. (Nashville). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888.

Winder, William Henry, 1775-1824, Baltimore, Maryland, lawyer, soldier, general.  Founding officer of the Baltimore auxiliary of the American Colonization Society, 1816.  (Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 2, p. 382; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 39)

Woodside, John, founding charter member of the American Colonization Society, Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Worcester, Noah, Brighton, Massachusetts.  Founded a joint temperance and colonization society of the American Colonization Society.  Also and advocate for Free Blacks.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 131)

Worcester, Samuel M., Amherst, Massachusetts, professor, Amherst College.  Volunteered to be a local agent of the American Colonization Society.  Wrote pro-colonization articles for the Boston Recorder.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 132)

Worthington, W. G. D., founding charter member of the American Colonization Society, Washington, DC, December 1816.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 258n14)

Wright, Chester, Reverend, clergyman.  Agent, American Colonization Society (ACS).  Secretary of the Vermont auxiliary of the ACS.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 27)

Wright, Robert, 1752-1826, Maryland, U. S. Congressman and Senator, Governor of Maryland.  Co-founder and charter member of the American Colonization Society.  (Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 2, p. 564; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 27)

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Yale, Calvin, Reverend, Vermont, clergyman.  Member and advocate for the American Colonization Society.  Stated that colonization “may ultimately lead to the extinction of slavery…”  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 132)

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State and Local Auxiliaries (Societies) of the American Colonization Society

Augusta, Georgia

Baltimore, Maryland

Boston, Massachusetts

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Cincinnati, Ohio

Connecticut Colonization Society

District of Columbia

Fayetteville, North Carolina

Georgia

Indiana

Iowa

Kentucky

Louisiana

Manchester

Maine

Maryland State Colonization Society  (Burin, 2005, pp. 66, 68; Staudenraus, 1961)

Massachusetts State Colonization Society

Michigan

Mississippi Colonization Society

Missouri

New Hampshire

New Jersey Colonization Society

New York

North Carolina Society for Colonizing Free People of Colour of the United States

Pennsylvania Colonization Society (PCS; Burin, 2005, pp. 80, 83-99; Staudenraus, 1961)

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Richmond, Virginia

Savannah, Georgia

South Carolina

Tennessee

Vermont

Virginia Colonization Society

Washington, DC

Young Men’s Colonization Society, Boston, Massachusetts

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Newspapers That Supported the American Colonization Society and Colonization

Commercial Advertiser, New York

Recorder, Boston, Massachusetts

Vermont Chronicle, Windsor, Vermont

United States Gazette, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

American Sentinel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Daily Chronicle, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Intelligencer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

National Intelligencer, Washington, DC

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Serial Publications That Supported the American Colonization Society and Colonization

Christian Mirror, Portland, Maine

Observer, New York

Bible Repertory, Princeton Seminary

New England Magazine, Boston, Massachusetts

North American Review, Boston, Massachusetts

American Quarterly Review, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Quarterly Christian Spectator, New Haven, Connecticut

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Agents for the American Colonization Society

Atkinson, William

Ayres, Eli, Dr.

Bacon, Samuel

Bascom, Henry

Birney, James G.

Burgess, Ebenezer

Campbell, George W., Reverend

Crosby, John

Crozer, Samuel

Danforth, Joshua, Reverend

Dewey, Loring D.

Finley, Robert

Gadsen, Christopher, Reverend

Gillet, Eliphalet

Greenleaf, Johnathan, Reverend

Harrison, Jesse Burton

Henkle, Moses Montgomery

Hinckley, Orramel S., Reverend

Christy, David

Light, George

Mechlin, Joseph, Dr.

McLain, William, Reverend

McKenney, William, Reverend

Moore, Cornelius

Mitchell, James, Reverend

Nourse, James, Reverend

Orr, Isaac, Reverend

Niles, William Watson

Peers, Benjamin Orrs

Polk, Josiah

Pinney, John, Reverend

Pearl, Cyril, Reverend

Randall, Richard, Dr.

Sessions, Horace

Southgate, Edward, Reverend

Tracy, Myron

Walker, Charles, Reverend

Williams, Anthony D.

Wiltonberger, Christian

Worcester, Samuel M.

Wright, Chester, Reverend

References

(Drake, 1950, pp. 124-126, 131; Dumond, 1961, pp. 127-129, 176; Filler, 1960, pp. 20, 61, 225; Freehling, 1994; Hammond, 2011, pp. 168, 219, 252, 269, 271, 273, 274, 283; Harrold, 1995, pp. 6, 18-19, 29, 34, 132; Miller, 1975; Mitchell, 2007, pp. 4-5; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 20, 34, 41, 104-105, 129, 163-164, 290, 308, 319, 521, 586-587; Sernett, 2002; Sorin, 1971; Staudenraus, 1961; Alexander, Archibald, A History of Colonization on the Western Coast of Africa, New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969 [originally published in 1846 by William S. Martien]; Beyan, Amos J., The American Colonization Society and the Creation of the Liberian State: A Historical Perspective, New York: University Press of America, 1991; Burin, Eric. Slavery and the Peculiar Solution: A History of the American Colonization Society.  Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida, 2005; Campbell, Penelope. Maryland in Africa: The Maryland State Colonization Society, 1831-1857. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1971; Finkelman, Paul (6 April 2006). Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619–1895: From the Colonial Period to the Age of Frederick Douglass Three-volume set.  Oxford University Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-19-516777-1; Garrison, William L., Thoughts on African Colonization, New York: Arno Press, 1968 [originally published in 1832]; Jay, William, Miscellaneous Writings on Slavery. New York: Negro Universities Press, 1968 [originally published in 1835 by John P. Jewett & Co.]; ; Staudenraus, P. J., The African Colonization Movement 1816–1865, New York: Columbia University Press, 1961; Stebbins, G. B., Facts and Opinions Touching the Real Origin, Character, and Influence of the American Colonization Society, New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969 [originally published in 1853 by John P. Jewett & Co., Boston]; the papers of the American Colonization Society are in the Library of Congress, Washington, DC)

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