Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/502

474 first legislature that met in Indianapolis, and in 1833 went to Michigan, beginning the practice •of his profession at St. Josepli. In 1837 he was made a regent of the University of Michigan, and from 30 June, 1848, till 3 March, 1849, served as a member of the U. S. senate, having been appointed by the governor to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Gen. Lewis Cass. Before going to Washington he was named as a commissioner to inquire into the condition of what were known as " wild-cat " banks, and by his perseverance and in- dustry succeeded in effecting the virtual extermina- tion of those discreditable institutions. Senator Fitzgerald was appointed by President Pierce a judge in one of the territories, but refused. He was subsequently probate judge of Berrien county, Mich., and was a leader in the Democratic party.

FITZGIBBON, James, British soldier, b. in 1780; d. about 1860. He Avas almost wholly self- edticated, was the son of a farmer, and enlisted in the army when he was seventeen years old. Pie served in the war against Napoleon I., and in the American war of 1818-15, and in 1816 retired as captain of the Glengarry, Canada, fencibles. He after \yard became assistant adjutant-general of militia in Upper Canada. In 1837, during the Mackenzie rebellion, his foresight and precaution- ary measures saved the city of Toronto from the disaffected, for which service he was awarded 5.000 acres of land by the city council, received the thanks of parliament, and the present of a valuable sword. The grant of land was subsequently dis- allowed. Gen. Fitzgibbon was chief clerk of the lower house of the Canadian parliament in 1816-29, and clerk of the upper house in 1839-"35. In 1850 he was created a military knight of Windsor, and subscciuently resided in P^ngland.

FITZHUGH, Edward Henry, judge, b. in Caroline county, Va., 31 Sept., 1816; d. 36 June, 1890. He studied law, practised at Wheeling, W. Va., removed to Richmond, Va., in 1861, and .served in an important capacity in the quartermas- ter's department of the Confederate army, from 1861 till 1865. He was judge of the chancery court of the city of Richmond from 1870 till 1883, when he returned to the practice of his profession. Judge Fitzhugh was active in the councils of the Presbyterian church, and in 1867 was elected a member of the executive committees of "publication and education" of the general assembly.

FITZHUGH, George, sociologist, b. in "Prince William county, Va., 3 July, 1807; d. in Hunts- ville. Walker co., Texas, 30 July, 1881. He was largely self-taught, the only education he received lis a child being gained in what were known as the " field schools " of his native county. That the •amount of knowledge thus acquired was probably not great, may be inferred from the fact that Fitz- hugh, when only nine years of age, was frequently, left in . sole charge of the other pupils during the extended absence of the teacher. In spite of these early disadvantages, he succeeded in securing a good education, studied law, and practised his pro- fession for many years in Port Royal, Va., making a specialty of criminal cases. liuring President Buchanan's administration Mr. P^'itzhugh was em- ployed in the office of Attorney-General Black, in the land-claim department. About this time he made his only visit to the northern states, lecturing in Boston, and visiting his relative by marriage, <Teri'it Smith. At the house of the latter he met Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. These acquaintance- ships derive their significance from his peculiar political opinions. Mr. Fitzhugh was a frequent contributor to the press, writing for the " New York Day-Book," " Richmond Examiner," " De Bow's Review," and other journals and periodicals. He was " an eccentric and extreme thinker," claim- ing that slavery is the natural and rightful con- dition of society, which, when not founded on hu- man servitude, tends to cannibalism. Pie did not base his argument upon the inferiority of the negro, but maintained that the laboring classes of mankind, irrespective of color, should be slaves, as in Greece and Rome. During the civil war he wrote : " It is a gross mistake to suppose that ' abolition ' is the cause of dissolution between the north and the south. The Cavaliers, Jacobites, and Huguenots of the south naturally hate, contemn, and despise the Puritans who settled the north. The former are master races, the latter a slave race, the descendants of the Saxon serfs." His opinion of free labor may be gathered from the following extracts from his " Sociology for the South " : " The free laborer rarely has a house and home of his own; he is insecure of employment; sickness may overtake him at any time and deprive him of the means of support ; old age is certain to overtake him if he lives, and generally finds him without the means of subsistence ; his family is probably increasing in numbers, and is helpless and burden- some to him. In all this there is little to incite to virtue, much to tempt to crime ; nothing to afford happiness, but quite enough to inflict misery. Man must be more than human to acquire a pure and a high morality under such circumstances." And again : " Slavery without domestic affection would be a curse, and so would marriage and parental au- thority. The free laborer is excluded from its holy and charmed circle. Shelterless, naked, and hun- gry, he is exposed to the bleak winds, the cold rains, and hot sun of heaven, with none that love him, none that care for liim. His employer hates him because he asks high wages or joins strikes ; his fellow-laborer hates him because he competes with him for employment. Foolisli abolitionists ! bring him back, like the prodigal son. Let him fare at least as well as the dog, and the horse, and the sheep. Better to lie down with the kids and the goats, than stand naked and hungry without. As a slave, he will be beloved and protected. Whilst free, he will be hated, despised, and persecuted. Such is the will of God and order of Providence. It is idle to inquire the reasons." Mr. P^itzhugh I^ublished " Sociology for the South, or the Fail- ure of Free Society" (Richmond, 1854), and "Can- nibals All, or Slaves Without Masters " (1856).

FITZHUGH, William, lawyer, b. in Bedford, England, 9 June, 1651; d. in Stafford county, Va., in October, 1701. He was a lawyer by profession, settled in that portion of Stafford county now comprised in King George county, and founded the Fitzhugh family of that state. He was also a merchant, planter, and shipper. A manuscript volume of his correspondence, covering the period from 1679 till 1699, has been preserved, and a copy of the letters is in the collections of the Virginia historical society. Mr. Fitzhugh acted as counsel for Maj. Robert Beverley, father of the historian of Virginia and secretary of the colonial council, who was indicted for " cutting " tobacco-plants, and found guilty of that and other "high misdemeanors," including a refusal to deliver up the records of the council. Although he had been^n active and efficient partisan of Gov. Berkeley in the popular uprising stigmatized as " Bacon's rebellion," he was sternly dealt with, being long imprisoned and disfranchised. He was finally released on asking pardon of the council on his bended knees.