Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/312

284 negro whom one of the conspirators approached on 25 May, 1822. Several thousand slaves from neigh- boring islands, organized in military formations and provided with pikes and daggers, were to ar- rive in canoes, as many were accustomed to do on Sunday, and with one stroke take possession of the city, the forts, and the shipping in the harbor. Nearly all the slaves of Charleston and its vicin- ity, many from remoter plantations, and a large number of whites, were in the plot. The leaders that were first arrested maintained such secrecy and composure that they* were discharged from custody, and proceeded to develop their plans. An attempt was made to carry them out on 16 June, but the insurrection was promptly suppressed. At length, on the evidence of informers, the chief conspirators were arrested and arraigned for trial on 19 June. The two courts were organized under a colonial law, and consisted each of two lawyers and five freeholders, among whom were William Drayton, Robert Y. Hayne, Joel R. Poinsett, and Nathaniel Hay ward. Denmark Vesey showed much dialectic skill in cross-examining witnesses by coun- sel and in his final plea. He and five of the ring- leaders were hanged first, and twenty-nine others on later dates, all save one keeping up to the end their calm demeanor and absolute reticence, even under torture. On the day of Vesey's execution a second effort was made to rouse the blacks, but two brigades of troops, on guard day and night, were sufficient to deter them from action. The slaves were ready, however, to embrace the first opportunity, and re-enforcements of United States troops were sent in August to guard against a re- newal of the insurrection.

VESEY, William, clergyman, b. in Braintree, Mass., in 1674; d. in New York city, 18 July, 1746. He entered Harvard, and was graduated in 1693, after which he began the study of theology in Bos- ton. He officiated as lay reader in Hempstead, Queens co., N. Y., during 1695-'6, and was invited by Gov. Fletcher and the magistrates, vestrymen, and wardens vto become rector of the new congre- gation in New York, known as Trinity church, and " to have the care of souls in the city of New York " so soon as he took orders. The vestry en- gaged to pay his expenses, and he embarked for England early in 1697. He was ordained in Au- gust- of the same year, and returned immediately to this country. He was inducted into the new church as soon as it was finished, 13 March, 1698. Gov. Fletcher made a grant to the church of a tract of land for a term of years, known as " The King's Farm," subject to rent, which, however, was not exacted. Fletcher's successor, the Earl of Bello- mont, by requiringthe rent, stirred up a violent controversy with Rector Vesey ; but Lord Corn- bury, who succeeded as governor in 1701, restored the farm to the church. About 1712 the bishop of London, Dr. Compton, appointed Mr. Vesey his commissary, which proved to be a laborious and troublesome office, and led to several protracted and unpleasant controversies. He discharged his various duties with zeal and earnestness, and as the Venerable society for the propagation of the gospel furnished him with assistant ministers, school-masters, and teachers, he was able to give an impetus to the Church of England in New York city, which placed it in the foremost rank, and secured to its successor, the Protestant Episcopal church, the strong position that it holds to the present day. His last report as commissary to the Venerable society in 1746 showed the result of long and faithful labors, and spoke of "twenty-two churches flourishing and increasing in his juris- diction." Mr. Vesey was an able preacher, but he left nothing in print. His portrait is among the collections of parish rectors in the vestry-room of Trinity chapel, New York city. Vesey street, in the same city, was named in his honor.

'''VEST. George Graham''', senator, b. in Frank- fort, Ky., 6 Dec. 1830. He was graduated at Cen- tre college in 1848, and in the law department of Transylvania university in March, 1853. Begin- ning practice in central Missouri, he was chosen a- presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in 1860, and in the same year was elected to the Mis- souri house of representatives. In the -legislative debates of the session of 1861 he was an ardent supporter of southern views. He relinquished his seat in order to take his place in 1863 as a repre- sentative from Missouri in the Confederate senate, of which he was a member for two years. After the downfall of the Confederacy he resumed the practice of law in Sedalia, Mo., whence he re- moved in 1877 to Kansas City, Mo. He was elected to the U. S. senate, taking his seat on 18 March, 1879, became prominent by his powers as a debater and orator, and was re-elected for the term ending 3 March, 1891.

VETCH, James, British engineer, b. in Had- dington, Scotland, 13 May, 1789 ; d. in London, England, 7 Dec, 1869. He was educated at Wool- wich military academy, served as an officer of en- gineers in the peninsular war, and after conduct- ing the ordnance survey in the Shetland, Orkney, and Hebrides islands for three years, went to- Mexico in 1824, and for the next eleven years managed the silver-mines of Real del Monte and Bolanos. While a resident of Mexico he con- structed roads and other public works, and began to survey and map the country. After his return to Great Britain he was employed in important drainage works and harbor improvements, and held high offices under the government connected with his profession.

VETCH, Samuel, colonial governor, b. in Edin- burgh, Scotland, 9 Dec, 1668 ; d. in London, Eng- land, 30 April, 1732. He was the son of William Vetch, a minister in Edinburgh, was educated there and at the College of Utrecht, Holland, and accompanied William, Prince of Orange,to England, 5 Nov., 1688. He afterward served with credit in Flan- ders in the war against France, re- turned to England at the peace of Rys- wick in 1697, and in 1698 was appointed one of the seven councillors of the " colony of Caledo- nia" at Darien and proceeded thither. (See Paterson, William.) He accompanied Paterson as far as New York when the latter was on hisway to England to report to the directors of the Darien scheme, and afterward went to Albany, engaged in trade with the Indians, and on 20 Dec, 1700, married Margaret, daughter of Robert Livingston. In 1705 he was sent as a commissioner from Gov. Joseph Dudley, of Massachusetts, to Quebec with proposals for a treaty between Cana-