Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/227

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

Virginia, where he practiced law for a time, then removing to Richmond. He took high rank in his profession, and was counsel for Aaron Burr, in his trial for treason. John Randolph, of Roanoke, refers to him in his will as "my best of friends and the wisest and best man I ever knew ;" and Tom Moore, the poet, pronounced him "the only gentle- man I found in America, and would have graced any court" He died in Richmond, January 17, 1839.

Barron, James, was born in Virginia, in 1769. son of Samuel Barron, captain, of Fort George, now Fort Monroe. He became a sailor, rose to the rank of master, and after commanding various merchantmen, was in 1798 commissioned a lieutenant in the United States navy. He was made captain in 1799. commodore in 1806, and when war with France threatened in 1807, was assigned to the command of the Chesapeake, The latter left Washington with a hastily collected crew and poorly prepared. Soon after sail- ing she encountered the British frigate Leopard, whose commander demanded the return of certain British deserters, who he alleged were in board the Chesapeake. Com- modore Barron refused to comply, and the Leopard opened fire, killing three of the crew of the Chesapeake, and wounding eighteen. Barron, after firing one of the guns, lowered the United States flag, and the British commander boarded the Chesa- peake and carried away the sailors of whom he was in search. The British gov- ernment condemned the action of its repre- sentative, returned the sailors taken from the Chesapeake, and paid indemnity. Bar- ron, however, was severely censured by the public and his fellow-officers (though he

contended, with justice, that, owing to the negligence of the navy department, he had been powerless to resist the demand of the Leopard) ; was tried by court-martial and suspended for five years, but was later fully reinstated to command. In 1820, re- garding Commodore Decatur as the head of a cabal, which he believed existed against him, he challenged the latter to mortal com- bat. In the encounter, which took place near Bladensburg, Maryland, Decatur was killed and Barron badly wounded. The re- sult served to increase the ill feeling against Barron. The latter, in 1839, became senior officer of the navy, but, until his retirement, passed his time in shore duty or on waiting orders. Time has acquitted him of the charge of negligence, and it is now believed that he was in large measure the victim of circumstances. He died in Norfolk, Vir- ginia, April 21, 1851.

Clark, William, was born in Caroline county, Virginia, August i, 1770, son of John and Ann (Rogers) Clark, and grand- son of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Wilson) Clark. When he was fourteen his family removed to Kentucky, settling on the site of the present city of Louisville, where his brother, George Rogers Clark, erected a fort, in 1777. This place at the time was the scene of frequent Indian raids, and young William grew up with a vast experi- ence of the methods of Indian warfare and an intimate knowledge of their habits. At the age of nineteen he participated in Col. John Hardin's expedition against the In- dians across the Ohio, was made an ensign in 1791, served under Scott and Wilkinson against the Indians on the Wabash, was commissioned lieutenant of infantry, March

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