Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/503

Rh FITZHUGH, William Henry, philanthropist, 1). in ("hatliain, Stafford co., Va., 8 March, 1792; d. in Cainhridge, Md., 21 May, 1880. lie was a son of Williaiu h\ Fitzhugh, a patriot of the Revohi- tion, was graduated at Princeton in 1808, and set- tled 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 [)en. In 1826 he published a series of essays in behalf of the cause, over the signature of "Opimius," in the columns of the Richmond "In- quirer." He was also the author of an address de- livered 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.

FITZPATRICK, Benjamin, senator, b. in Green county, Ga., 30 June, 1802 ; d. in Autauga county, Ala., 25 Nov., 1869. He removed to Alabama in 1818, when it was a territory, read law in the office of Judge Benson, of Montgomery, and, after he was admitted to the bar in 1821, became a part- ner of Henry Goldthwaite, who afterward rose to eminence in his profession. Mr. Fitzpatrick was the next year elected solicitor of the Montgomery cir- cuit,, and re-elected in 1828. Meanwhile he mar- ried a daughter of Gen. John Elmore, formerly of South Carolina. In 1829 he found the labors of his profession too severe for his declining health, and retired to his plantation in Autauga county, near Montgomery, where he engaged successfully in agriculture. In 1840, as a candidate for presi- dential elector on the Democratic ticket, he en- gaged in an active canvass in behalf of Mr. Van Buren, and took part in an animated discussion with Henry W. Hilliard, candidate for elector in the same district on the Whig ticket, who ar- dently advocated the claims of Gen. Harrison. In 1841 Mr. Fitzpatrick was elected governor of Ala- bama by a majority of nearly 7.000 over Col. Mc- Lung, of Huntsvilie, and in 1848 was re-elected without opposition. On the death of Hon. Dixon H. Lewis, in 1848, Gov. Chapman appointed Mr. Fitzpatrick to fill the unexpired term in the senate of the United States. In 1858 he was appointed by Gov. Collier to succeed William R. King in the senate, and was elected by the legislature to fill the unexpired term. In 1855 he was elected to the senate for a full term of six years. He was elected president of the senate pro tempore, and served in four successive sessions. At the Demo- cratic national convention, held in Baltimore in 1860, Mr. Fitzpatrick was nominated for vice-pi'esi- dent on the ticket with Mr. Douglas, who was a candidate for the presidency : but he promptly declined, and Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, was nominated in his place. When Alabama adopted hei- ordinance of secession in 1861, Mr. Fitzpatrick withdrew from the senate and returned home. At the close of the civil war he took part once more in public aff'airs, was elected by the people of Au- tauga county to the convention called to frame a new constitution, and was chosen president of the convention. When it had finished its woi-k he re- tired to his plantation, where he passed his last years in broken health, but still attending to the duties that pressed upon him as cheerfully as pos- sible in view of the decline of his fortunes result- ing from the war. Mr. Fitzpatrick was distin- guished for integrity, unswerving loyalty to truth, and manly bearing in public affairs.

FITZPATRICK, John Bernard, R. C. bishop, b. in Boston, Mass., 1 Nov., 1812; d. there, 13 Feb., 1866. He studied in the Boston Latin-school in 1828-'9, and in the latter year was sent to Montreal college, where he was appointed professor of rhetoric and belles-lettres while still a pupil. He completed his course of study in Montreal in 1837, and then took a course in the Grand seminary of St. Sulpice, Paris. He returned in 1839, and was ordained in 1840. His first mission was at the Boston cathedral. He was afterward appointed pastor of East Cambridge, where he succeeded in composing dissensions of long standing. He was nominated coadjutor bishop of Boston in 1844, and in 1846 succeeded Bishop Fenwick. His administration was signaled by many lamentable occurrences. In 1854 the Roman Catholic church of Dorchester was blown up by unknown persons, and the &ldquo;Ellsworth outrage&rdquo; took place, in which a priest was inhumanly treated by his fellow-citizens. He visited Rome in 1854, and on his return had a remarkable controversy with the Boston school board, which resulted in the repeal of rules that were obnoxious to the Roman Catholic pupils. The Roman Catholic population increased so rapidly under his administration that in 1853 two new dioceses were created out of that of Boston. When he entered on his episcopate there were forty priests and forty churches in his diocese; at its close there were three hundred priests and three hundred churches. He had also erected one of the finest orphan asylums in the country, a large reformatory, a hospital, a college, and had increased the number of religious communities and orders fivefold.

FITZSIMMONS, Thomas, statesman, b. in Ire- land in 1741 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., in August, 1811. He emigrated to this country and became a merchant in Philadelphia. During the Revolu- tionary war he commanded a company of volun- teers. He was for many years a member of the Pennsylvania assembly, a delegate to the Continen- tal congress in 1782-'8. and to the Constitutional convention in 1787. From 1789 till 1795 he sat in the National congress. In 1780 the firm of George Meade & Co., of which Mr. Fitzsimmons was a member, subscribed £5,000 toward supplying the Continental army with necessary equipments. Mr. Fitzsimmons was president of the Philadelphia chamber of commerce, and also of the North Amer- ican insurance companv.

FLAOET, Benedict Joseph, R. C. bishop, b. in Contournat, Auvergne, France, 7 Nov., 1768; d. in Nazareth, Ky., 11 Feb., 1850. He was first educated in the college of Billom, and afterward took a course of ithilosophy in the University of Clermont. He then studied theology at the Sulpitian college in the same city, and became a member of that order in 1783. He continued his studies at Issy, near Paris, and, in 1788 was ordained priest. He was professor of dogmatic theology for two years in the University of Nantes, and filled the same office in the seminary of Angers at the begin- ning of the French revolution. He was obliged to fly, and came in 1792 to Baltimore, Md., whence he was at once sent by Dr. Carrol as chaplain to Vin- cennes,, then a military post in the northwest. During six months of delay at Pittsburg he acted as chaplain to the Catholics in the army of Gen. Wayne, who was organizing a force to attack the Indians. His congregation at Vincennes was com- posed of 700 haff-breeds, who were little better than savages, and his success in civilizing them was considerable. He was recalled in 1795 and sent to Georgetown college, where he was professor for three years. In 1798 he accompanied two other