Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/172

 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

129

elected a member of the lower house of the Virginia state legislature, and was continu- ously reelected until 1839, when he declined to serve ; elected as a Whig to the twenty- seventh congress (March 4, 1841-March 3, 1843) » presidential elector on the Clay ticket in 1844 and the Taylor ticket in 1848; on July 22, 1850, assumed the office of secretary of the interior, to which he had been appointed by President Fillmore, and in which he continued until the con- clusion of the administration; was a mem- ber of the convention of 1856 which nomi- nated Millard Fillmore for the presidency, and from 1857 to 1861 was in the Vir- ginia state senate; he was a strong Union man in sentiment at the outbreak of the civil war and earnestly resisted the seces- sion of his state, while he was one of the first of the Southern leaders to promote re- conciliation and political agreement after the war; although elected a member of con- gress in 1865, he was unable to take his seat on account of the "iron-clad" oath ; delegate to the national Union convention in 1866; in 1868 was very active in his opposition and resistance to the objectionable features ot the reconstruction acts; in 1876 was elected rector of the University of Virginia, and, excepting a period of two years, be- tween 1882 and 1884, he continued to fill that position until 1886, when he resigned; he was a member of the board of trustees of the Southern educational fund founded by George Peabody; he was also for many years president of the Virginia Historical Society; died in Staunton, Virginia, Febru- ary 13, 1891. Judge Archibald Stuart, his father, was a son of Major Alexander Stuart, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1733, and grandson of Archibald Stuart, a Scotch-

VlA-»

Irish Presbyterian who emigrated to Penn- sylvania in 1727, and in 1738 removed to Augusta.

Stuart, Archibald, born in Lynchburg, Virginia, December 2, 1795 * completed pre- paratory studies; studied law, was admit- ted to the bar, and commenced practice in Campbell county ; served as an officer in the war of 1812; member of the state legisla- ture; member of the state convention of 1829-1830; resided in Mount Airy, North Carolina ; elected as a Whig to the twenty- fifth congress (March 4, 1837-March 3, 1839) ; member of the state convention of 1850-1851 ; died in Patrick county, Virginia, September 20, 1855. He was a son of Judge Alexander Stuart, and grandson of Major Alexander Stuart, who was born in Pennsyl- vania in 1733.

Summers, George W. (q. v.).

Swearingen, Thomas Van, born near Shepherdstown, West Virginia, May 5, 1784; attended the common schools; elected to the sixteenth and seventeenth congresses, and served from March 4, 1819, until his death in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, August 19, 1822.

Taliaferro, John, born at "Hays," King George county, Virginia, in 1768, son of John Taliaferro, of **Hays," and Elizabeth Garnett, his wife; attended a private school; studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced in Fredericksburg, Vir- ginia; elected as a Republican to the sev- enth congress (March 4, 1801-March 3, 1803) ; presidential elector on the Jefferson ticket in 1805 ; successfully contested the election of John Hungerford to the twelfth congress, and served from December 2,

Digitized by

Google