Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/136

 UNITED STATES SENATORS

93

Parker, Richard Elliott (q. v.).

Roane, William Harrison, son of Judge Spencer Roane, of the supreme court of ap- peals, and Anne Henry, his wife, daughter of Patrick Henry, was born in Hanover county, Virginia, in 1788. In 1804 he enter- ed W illiam and Mary College, and later practiced law. He was twice elected a member of the executive council of his native state, and after serving as a delegate to the general assembly, he was elected a Republican representative in the national house of representatives, and served from December 4. 1815. to March 3, 1817. When the Democratic party was formed in 1828 he united himself with this party, and in 1837 was elected to fill a vacancy in the United States senate, which had been caused by the resignation of Richard E. Parker; he served from September 4. 1837, to March 3, 1841. His death occurred at his residence, *'Tree Hill," near Richmond, \*irginia. May 1 1, 1845.

Archer, William S., was born in Amelia county, Virginia, March 5, 17&J, son of Major John Archer, who in the revolution- ary war was aide to General Wayne, and acquitted himself with special distinction at the capture of Stony Point, and grandson of William Archer, of Welsh ancestry, a colonel in the revolutionary army, who died on a British prison ship. He was educated at the College of William and Mary, gradu- ated in 1806, and studied law. He was elected to the state legislature, and served, with the exception of a single year, from 1S12 to 1819. In 1820 he became a member from \'irginia to the house of representa- tives, where he remained until 1835, exert- ing a wide influence, especially as chairman

of the committee on foreign afi'airs, and as a member of the committee on the Missouri compromise. He was a states rights man and supported General Jackson till his proc- lamation against South Carolina in 1832, when he joined the new Whig party of op- position. In 1841 he was elected to the United States senate, and gave a very re- luctant support to Clay's project of a bank. In 1844 he was chairman of the senate com- mittee on foreign relations, and opposed the annexation of Texas. He served until 1847, when he retired to his estate in Amelia county, where he died March 28, 1855.

Pennybacker, Isaac Samuels, was born in Shenandoah * county, Virginia, September 12, 1807. He was educated at Washington College, Virginia, studied law at the Win- chester Law School, and settled at Harri- sonburg, Virginia, where he commenced the practice of his profession. In 1837 he was a representative in Congress, and at the ex- piration of his term became judge of the district court of western Virginia. He de- clined the office of United States attorney- general, offered him by President Van Buren, and subsequently that of justice of the supreme court of \'irginia. He was spoken of for governor, but declined to run. In 1845 he was elected United States sena- tor, but before the expiration of his term he died in Washington, D. C, January 12, 1847.

Mason, James Murray, was born on Ma- son's Island, Fairfax county, West Virginia, November 3, 1798. He was a son of General John Mason, and a grandson of George Ma- son, the celebrated Virgfinia patriot of the American revolution, and the close friend of George Washington. James M. Maaon

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