Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/521

Rh man that was polled. He cast his vote for Wash- ington as first president of the United States. He left his estate of 20,000 acres and a large number of slaves "free from debt and every other incum- brance." — Joseph (of Sion Hill), the second son, b. 19 Sept., 1732; d. at Sion Hill, 1 March, 1798. For many years he held important civil offices in his native state, occupying a seat in the house of burgesses and serving as a member of the different conventions. During the war for independence he commanded the Buckingham county regiment, and was joined, while on the way to take part in the siege of Yorktown, by the students of William and Mary college, who had formed a eomjiany and volunteered to accompany him. — William H., youngest son of Dr. William Cabell, b. at Boston Hill, Cumberland co., Va., 16 Dec, 1772; d. in Richmond, 17 Jan., 1853, was educated at Hamp- den-Sidney and William and Mary colleges, being graduated in 1793. In 1794 he was admitted to the bar in Richmond. He married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Col. William Cabell, in 1795, who died in 1801. He was first a member of the house of delegates in 1796, and was frequently re-elected imtil 1805, when he was chosen governor. The same year he married Agnes Sarah Bell, daughter of Col. Robert Gamble, of Richmond, and sister of Mrs. Wirt, of Richmond. In the mean while he had twice served as a presidential elector. He was governor for three years, when he was elected a judge of the general court, and in 1811 a judge of the court of appeals, of which last he was president at the time of his death. — Samuel Jordan, eldest son of Col. William Cabell. Sr., b. in Amherst co., Va., 15 Dec, 1756; d. 4 Aug., 1818. lie received a classical education, mainly in private schools, and entered William and Mary college in 1773. Wlien the colonies revolted against Great Britain he was a student, but at once left college, raised a com- pany of riflemen in his native county, and entered the continental service. This company was in all the northern campaigns, and is said to have opened the engagement at the battle of Saratoga. Capt. Cabell was rapidly promoted major and lieutenant- colonel, and when the seat of war was transferred to the south accompanied Gen. Greene with his regiment. At the siege of Charleston he was taken prisoner and paroled; but, failing to secure an exchange, was inactive till the close of the war. During the formative period of the government he was almost continuously a member of the state legislature, and in 1788 sat as his father's colleague in the convention that passed upon the proposed fed- eral constitution, and both of them voted against its adoption. From 1785 till 1803 he served in con- gress. He married Sarah, daughter of Col. John Syme, of Hanover co., Va. — George Craighead, grandson of Joseph of Sion Hill, was b. in Dan- ville, Ky., 25 Jan., 1837. He was one of a family of twenty children. His father removed to Ken- tucky in 1811. He was educated at home and at Danville academy. As his father had suffered pe- cuniary losses, he engaged in teaching while he studied law and saved the means to complete his professional studies at the University of Virginia. He began to practise law in 1858, and the same year was elected commonwealth's attorney, which office he held until 1801, when he enlisted as a pri- vate in the 18th Virginia infantry, and was rapidly promoted to major and lieutenant-colonel. He took part in most of the hard fighting of the Army of Northern Virginia during the civil war and was thrice wounded, a bullet in the last instance enter- ing his face and passing out at the back of his head. He was promoted colonel of cavalry in 1865. Resuming his law practice immediately after the close of hostilities, he soon retrieved his wrecked fortunes, and was elected to the 44th and 45th congresses, representing the conservative democratic element of his state.— James Laurence, son of Dr. George Cabell, Jr., b. in Nelson co., Va., 26 Aug., 1813 ; d. in Overton, Va., 13 Aug., 1889. He was graduated in 1833, and after a course of medi- cal study in Baltimore and Philadelphia went to Paris, and while pursuing his studies there was elected to the chair of anatomy and surgery in the University of Virginia. He was chairman of the faculty, a place corresponding to that of president in other institutions, in 1840-'7. During the civil war he had charge of military hospitals for the Confederate government. In tlie year of the yellow fever epidemic at Memphis he was'chosen chairman of the National sanitary conference at Washington, and subsecjuently president of the National board of health. Dr. Cabell was a contributor to medical journals, and was the author of " The Testimony of Modern Science to the Unity of Mankind " (New York, 1858).— Edward Carringtou, third son of William II., was b. in Richmond, 5 Feb., 1816 ; d. in St. Louis, 28 Feb., 1896. He received a classical education, and afterward studied at Lexington and at the University of Virginia, including the law section, in 1834 and 1836. Removing to Florida, he was elected to congress by the whigs, serving during four terms from 1845 till 1853. In 1853 he delivered a speech in congress on the fortifica- tion of Key West and the Tortugas, which is said to have secured the appropriation for the protec- tion of those important points. In 1850 he mar- ried Anna JMaria Wilcox, a daughter of IMrs. John J. Crittenden by a former husband. During the civil war he was for a time in the confederate army. He wrote an elaborate account of Florida, which was publislied first in the "National Intelligencer" and afterward in " De Bow's Review."

CABEZA DE VACA, Alvar Nuñez (kah-bay - thah-de-vah'-ka), Spanish explorer, b. in Extremadura, Spain, in 1507 ; d. in 1559 (according to some authorities, b. 1490 and d. 1564). He belonged to a noble Andalusian family living in Xeres, and went to the Indies as alguacil major and treasurer of the expedition of Panfilo de Narvaez that left Spain, 29 June, 1527. He landed with Narvaez on the coast of Florida, probably at Appalachee bay, and accompanied him in his painful march westward, and in the voyage along the coast in boats constructed by the men with tools forged from their stirrups and spurs. The swift current of the Mississippi dispersed the frail craft. Of the 300 persons that landed on the Florida coast, Cabeza de Vaca, with two white companions named Castillo and Dorantes and Stephen, a negro slave, alone returned to civilization. They were cast ashore at some point west of Matagorda bay. Many of the Spaniards that had escaped death from shipwreck fell victims to the cruelty of the Indians or to disease. After six years of captivity in a tribe called by him the Mariames, Cabeza met on the shore of Texas the three other survivors of the expedition, who, like him, had been held in slavery l)y roving tribes. He had acquired a prestige among the Indians by learning the healing art, as practised by them, and becoming a medicine-man. He also followed the trade of a pedler, and travelled as far inland as the Red river, south of Shreveport, exchanging shells and beads for skins, flint, red-earth, and other products of the north, but always returned to the coast in hope of meeting some of his lost companions. When the four came together at last, they took the earliest opportunity to escape.