Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/355

Rh tfirio Teacher." Mr. Ross studied law, and obtained the decree of LL. B. from Albert university in ls7!>. but never practised.

ROSS, Henry Howard, lawyer, b. in Essex, N. Y.. 9 May, 1790: d. theiv, 14' Sept.. I.sii2. He a- graduated at Columbia in 1808, studied law, was admitted to the bar, practised in Essex for fifty years, and was elected to congress as a Whig, serv- ing from 5 Dec., 1825, till 3 March. 1S27. In 1847-'8 he was a county judge, and in 1N48 was a presidential elector. He was adjutant on the staff of Gen. John E. Wool at the battle of Plattsburg, 11 Sept., 1814, and was afterward appointed major- general of the state militia. The University nf Vermont gave him the degree of A. M. in 1813.

ROSS, James, senator, b. in York county. Pa., 12 July. 1762; d. in Alleghany City, Pa., 27 Nov., 1847. He entered the school of the Rev. Dr. John McMillan and accepted the post of teacher of Latin. In 1782 Mr. Ross be- came a student at law, was admitted to the bar in 1784, went to Washington, Pa., where he practised until in 1795 he re- moved to Pittsburg. In 1789 Mr. Ross was elected a member of the convention to frame a new consti- tution for the state. The ability that he displayed in this body gave him a reputation which, with his fame as an orator and lawyer, secured his election to the U. S. senate, in April, 1794, for the unexpired term, ending 3 March, 1797, of Albert Gallatin, who had been thrown out because he had not been for nine years a citizen, as required by the constitution. In 1797 he was again elected to succeed himself. To Senator Ross undoubtedly belongs the chief cred- it of the peaceful ending of the whiskey insur- rection. On 17 July, 1794, Gen. Neville, the chief excise officer, was attacked, and his house and other property were destroyed. At a tumultuous meeting of the people at Washington, Pa,, a rally of armed men was called, to be held on 1 Aug., at Braddock's Field. Mr. Ross, in a powerful speech, alone opposed the will of an excited popu- lace. He was told that he -had that day destroyed all chances of future political preferment, but, nothing daunted, he attended the Braddoek's Field meeting and also that of the delegates from west- ern Pennsylvania and Virginia, at Parkinson's Ferrv. By his personal appeals and arguments a party was funned, which, if not very numerous, included many citizens of note, several of whom had been active on the other side. While he was at Parkinson's Ferry a messenger from the capi- tal brought Senator'Ross the information that he had been appointed by Washington the chief of a commission to compose the insurrection. Senator Ross more than prepared the way for his colleagues, and the insurrection was virtually at an end before they joined him. Mr. Ross had been for several years intimate with (ten. Washington, being con- sulted as counsel, and now, at the president's re- quest, became his attorney in fact for the sole man- agement of his large estates in western Pennsyl- vania. While still in the senate, he was nominated, in 1799, as governor of the state. The nomination va- < -tee I to In- i-,juiali'iit to an eled ion, Inn Mr. Ross refused to canvass the state in his own behalf and was defeated. At the next election Mr. Ross was again nominated and was again unsuc- reful. The same disposition to defend the right, regardless of personal consequences, that had in- duced him. as a boy at Dr. McMillan's school, to volunteer against marauding Indians, that had separated him from friends and neighbors during the whiskey war, that in the senate had urged war against Spain to protect the mouths of the Missis- sippi for the use of the west, induced him to be- friend the cause of a party of friendless negro slaves who had escaped from their masters and found refuge in Philadelphia. Impassioned oratory gained the case. The " Port Folio," published in Philadel- phia in 1816, says that Mr. Ross received the thanks of the Abolition society ; but the generous act dimin- ished his popularity. In 1808, for the third time, he was nominated for governor, and was again un- successful. With this election the power of the Fed- eralists in Pennsylvania was broken, and with it the political life of Mr. Ross came to an end. He de- clined to connect himself with other parties ; only as a Federalist would he hold public office. Except a short sketch in the "Port Folio " for 1816, there is no published life of James Ross, and even that in great measure consists of extracts from his speeches.

ROSS, James, Canadian educator, b. in Pictou, N. S., in July, 1811 ; d. in Dartmouth in 1885. His father, who came from Scotland in 1795, was pastor of the Presbyterian church at Pictou for nearly forty years. The son was educated at the Pictou academy, and had charge of the grammar-school at Westmoreland, New Brunswick, for four years. After completing a course in theology he was licensed to preach in 1835. and became pastor of the congregation to which his father had ministered at Pictou. In 1842 Mr. Ross became editor of the "Presbyterian Banner." He afterward was professor of Hebrew and biblical criticism in Dalhousie college, and upon the opening of the theological seminary at West River was placed in charge of it. After Truro college was amalgamated with Dalhousie college Mr. Ross was appointed its president, and also acted as a professor of ethics.

ROSS, John, merchant, b. in Tain, County Ross, Scotland. 29 Jan., 1726; d. in Philadelphia in March. 1800. He early removed to Perth, Scotland, and entered into mercantile pursuits, but in 1763 came to Philadelphia, where he became a shipping-merchant. At the beginning of the difficulties with the mother country he espoused the e:iii>e of the colonies, and was a signer of the non-importation agreement of the citizens of Philadelphia in 1765. He presided at the meeting of the ini'rlianic". and tradesmen of the city that was held on 9 June. 1774. to consider a letter from the artificers of New York, and was a member of the committee to reply to the same. On 16 Sept., 1775, he va- appointed muster-master of the Pennsylvania navy, which office he resigned, 23 Feb.. 1776, on account of the importance of his commercial affairs. In May. 1776, he was employed by the committee of commerce of congress to purchase clothes, arms, and powder for the use of the army. This necessitated the establishment of agencies in Nanti - and Paris, and repeated visits to France during the war. In this duty he advanced or pledged his credit for 20,000 more than he was supplied with by congress, much to his embarrassment and subsequent loss. He was on terms of familiar intercourse with Washington, Franklin, and Robert Morris, and