Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/203

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

ill Baltimore in May, 1816, he was elected and ordained a bishop, in which office he served with zeal and effectiveness for twelve years. Bishop George belonged to the primitive school of American Methodist preachers, some of whom were without ex- tended scholastic advantages, but neverthe- less became able and highly effective preachers of the gospel, and also attained proficiency in biblical and theological learn- ing. He was especially distinguished for the fervor and pathos of his pulpit dis- courses.

Hill, William, born in Cumberland coun- ty, Virginia, March 3, 1769; was graduated at Hampden-Sydney in 1788, pursuing the theological course, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Hanover, July 10, 1790; after spending two years as a missionary in Virginia he settled in Berke- ley (now Jefferson) county, and in 1800 ac- cepted the pastorate of the Presbyterian church in Winchester ; he removed to Prince Edward county in 1834, and after a two years' pastorate became pastor of the Sec- ond Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, but in 1838 returned to Winchester, where he spent the remainder of his days; he de- livered an oration at Harper's Ferry in com- memoration of Gen. Washington, published several sermons, and was the author of a United States," which he intended to issue 111 numbers, but only the first appeared ; he died in Winchester, Virginia, November 16, 1852.
 * History of the Presbyterian Church in the

Copeland, Charles, eminent lawyer, was born in 1756; figured in the courts of Vir- ginia as the rival of John Wickham and William Wirt. Nothing is known of his

ancestry. He married (first) Rebecca, daughter of Robert Nicholson, a merchant of Williamsburg, (second) Henningham Bernard. He died November 24, 1836. and there is a monument to his memory in St. John's churchyard, Richmond, Virginia.

Munford, William, was born in Mecklen- burg county, Virginia, August 15, 1775, son of Col. Robert Munford, a brave soldier in the revolution, and author. His father died when he was seven years of age, and his education was left to his mother, who, like her husband, was endowed with literary gifts. He studied the ancient languages and literature at William and Mary College, under George Wythe, who afterwards was his tutor in the study of law. Completing his legal course at the age of twenty-one, he immediately entered upon an unusually brilliant and engrossing career. Until his twenty-fifth year he sat in the Virginia house of delegates, and for four years rep- resented his native county in the state sen- ate. At the end of that period he removed tc Richmond, and served in the privy coun- cil until 1811, when he became clerk in the house of delegates, and held that office until his death. He acted for several years as reporter of the decisions of the supreme court of appeals, of which he prepared, with some assistance, ten volumes, from 1809 to 1820. In 1819 he assisted Benjamin Wat- kins Leigh in the revision of the Virginia statute laws. Of Mr. Munford's poetry, the earliest published was is 1798, "Poems and Compositions in Prose on Several Occa- sions." This included a tragedy, "Almoran and Hamet," and a number of poems, most of which showed the influence of classical literature on the author. He occupied the

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