Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/391

Rh ERSKINE, Robert, scientist, b. in Scotland, 7 Sept., 1785 ; d. in Ringwood, N. J., 3 Oct., 1780. He was the son of the Rev. Ralph Erskine, of Dunfermline, Scotland, author of "Gospel Songs'' and "Scripture Songs," and for his scientific re- searches was elected a member Of the Royal society. He afterward came to this country and became geographer and surveyor-general to the army.

ERSKINE, Sir William, British soldier, b. in England in 1728 ; d. on 9 March. 1795. He entered the" Scots greys in 1743, and became a cornet at Fontenoy. In March, 1759, he was made a major in the 15th light dragoons, and served with gi-eat credit in Germany ; and in 1763 he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel. He was sent to America with the appointment of brigadier-general, and commanded the 7th brigade in the battle of Long Island in 1776. Subsequently he was second in command of Gov. William Tryon's marauding ex- pedition to Danbury, Conn., in April, 1777. He was then made colonel of the 80th regiment, and commanded the eastern district of Ijong Island during the winter of 1778-9. He was made a major-general in 1779, lieutenant-general in 1787, and became a baronet in June, 1791. During the campaign in Flanders, in 1798-5, he was second in command to the Duke of York.

ERVIN, James, lawyer, b, in Williamsburg district, S. C, 17 Oct., 1778; d. near Darlington Court-House, S. C, 7 July, 1841. He was graduated at Brown in 1797, studied law with W. D. James, and was admitted to the bar in Columbia in No- vember, 1800. He was elected to the legislature in the same year, re-elected in 1803, and served until 1804. Meanwhile he had entered on his practice in Pedee county, and was solicitor of the northern judicial district from 1804 till 1816. He was then elected to congress as a supporter of the tariff, and served from 1 Dec, 1817, till 3 March, 1821. Fail- ing health led to his declining a re-election. From 1809 till 1817 he was a member of the board of trustees of the South Carolina college.

ERVING, John, merchant, b. in Kirkwall, Orkney islands, Scotland, in 1690 or 1693 ; d. in Boston, Mass., 12 Aug., 1786. He was one of the wealthiest and most distinguished merchants of Boston, and was a member of the council of Massachusetts for twenty years. — His son, John, b. in Boston, Mass., in 1737; d. in Bath, England, 17 June, 1816, was graduated at Harvard in 1747, and in 1760 signed the Boston memorial, thus becoming one of the first fifty-eight men in this country to array themselves against the officers of the crown. In 1774 he was an addresser of Gov. Thomas Hutchinson, ind in the same year was appointed a mandamus councillor. Soon after the beginning of the Revo- lutionary war he fled to Halifax, N. S., and thence to England. In 1778 he was proscribed and ban- ished, and a year later his property was confiscated luider the conspiracy act. — The second John's nephew, George William, diplomatist, b. in Bos- ton, Mass., in 1771 ; d. in New York city in July, 1850, was a son of George Erving, who, during the Revolution, went to Halifax and thence to London, and sent his son back to the United States after educating him at Oxford. Mr. Erving was made consul at London, and in 1804 was appointed sec- retary of legation to Spain. In 1811 he was com- missioned special minister to Denmark, and charged with the subject of spoliations committed under the Danish flag on the commerce of the United States. From 1814 till 1819 he was United States minister to Spain.

ERWIN, Alexander R., clergyman, b. in Louisiana, 12 Jan., 1820 ; d. in Huntsville, Ala., 10 Jan., 1800. He was licensed to preach in the Methodist Episcopal church in 1840, and joined the Tennessee conference in 1842. He occupied a high rank in the ministry, presided over the Clarksville female academy and the Huntsville female college, and while stationed in Nashville received the degree of D. D. from Nashville university.

ESCALANTE, Juan (es-cah-lahn'-tay), Spanish soldier, b. in the 15th century ; d. in 1519. He was one of the adventurers that accompanied Ilernan Cortes in his expedition to Mexico. When Cortes founded Villa Rica de Vera Cruz on the spot where he had disembarked, Escalante was appointed high constable, and discharged the duties of that office in the absence of the general-in-chief. By order of Cortes, he destroyed the ten vessels that formed the Spanish fleet. When Cortes marched to Mexico he left Escalante with 150 men to guard the newly founded city. Shortly after this an Aztec chief, called yuanpopoca, who wished to go to pay hom- age personally to the Spaniards, obtained from Escalante a guard of four soldiers to protect him from the hostile tribes he would have to encounter. Two of the soldiers were able to reach Vera Cruz, but the others were assassinated. Escalante then set out with fifty Spaniards and some thousands of Indians to take revenge. A battle ensued, in which the Spaniards were victorious, but with the loss of seven men, among them Escalante himself.

ESCALANTE Y COLOMBRES, Manuel, Mexican bishop, b. in Lima, Peru, about the middle of the 17th century ; d. in Salvatierra, Mexico, 15 May, 1708. While very young he was taken to New Spain by his father, who had been appointed attorney of the audiencia or supreme court of Mexico. There the boy entered the college of San Ildefonso, finished his studies there, and subsequently became theological doctor, professor, and four times rector of the university. He also filled several other high offices, as vicar-general of the archbishopric, abbot of San Pedro, whose college and hospital he had founded, and in 1700 was ap- pointed bishop of Durango, from which see he was translated to that of Valladolid, Michoacan, in 1 704. His charity was so great that he even pawned the episcopal jewels to give alms. He died on his return from a visit to San Luis Potosi.

ESCALERA, Antonio de, Spanish soldier, b. in Toledo, Spain, in 1506 ; d. in Cjudad Real de Guayra, South America, 6 Sept., 1575. He studied at the University of Salamanca, and in 1534 received holy orders at Seville. In 1541 he sailed for Rio de la Plata with Gov. Alvar Nuiiez Cabeza de Vaca, and, enlisting in the army, joined in the campaigns of the conquerors. When difficulties arose between Cabeza de Vaca and the Vizcayan, Irala, Escalera advised Cabeza to compromise, whereupon Irala was appointed second commander, and sent in 1543 against the Guaycuru and Cacove Indians. Meanwhile Escalera had undertaken the conquest of the Xaraye Indians, and for that purpose had built several fortresses in their territory. About that time a terrible famine oppressed the conquerors, but, as Escalera's army was well supplied with provisions, he was able to minister to the wants of Cabeza de Vaca and Irala. In 1544 Escalera was of great service in delivering the Spaniards who had been besieged by the Cacove Indians in a place near Asuncion. On 25 April, 1544, the army rebelled and deposed Cabeza de Vaca, and Escalera was imprisoned for some time by the mutineers. Soon after his release he founded the city of Ciudad Real de Guayra, and in 1569 deposed Alonzo de Riquelme, who was then governor, for preventing the colonists from gathering precious