Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/300

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tached on a number of separate services, which required celerity, courage and vigi- lance. He was advanced to a command of mounted rangers and took part in many affairs with the Tories. He was in com- mand of a body of cavalry when, in associa- tion with Michael Watson, he attacked and, with the aid of Gen. Sumter and others, dispersed double the number of the enemy in Dean's Swamp, but Watson was killed in this encounter. Soon after the termina- tion of the war he was made a brigadier- general, and in 1796, major-general of the militia. He was a member of the conven- tion of 1787 to consider the adoption of the P'ederal constitution, and voted against it. Subsequently he was a member of the con- vention that passed the present constitution of South Carolina, was for some time a member of the legislature, sheriff in 1794, and also served as a magistrate. He was a member of congress from 1801 until 1813, resigning his seat in the last mentioned year in order to make way for John C. Calhoun. He was again a candidate for congress in 18 18, but was defeated by Eldred Simkins. During the war of 1812 he was in command of the South Carolina troops for state de- fence. He died in Columbia, South Caro- lina, November 15, 1821.

Speece, Conrad, born in Campbell county, Virginia. He attended the New London Academy, then went to Washington Col- lege, Lexington, Virginia, where he gradu- ated in 1796, and was a tutor for more than a year. He studied theology, and was licensed to preach by Hanover Presbytery. He was pastor of the Augusta church from 1813 to 1836. He cultivated general litera- ture, and wrote in both prose and verse.

He wrote the hymn, "Blest Jesus, when Thy Cross I \'iew.'' Princeton College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.

Hughes, Jesse, born at the headwaters of the Monongahela, Virginia, about 1768, early became skilled in the use of the rifle and tomahawk, and was one of the most active, daring and successful Indian hunters in the mountain region of Virginia — sometimes styled the Wetzel of his portion of the state. He was a man of iron constitution, could endure extraordinary privations and fatigue, and many anecdotes are told of his encoun- ters with the red men and of the invaluable services he rendered to the white settle- ments on the Monongahela. He was more than a match at any time for the most wary savage; in his ability to anticipate all their artifices, he had few equals and no superiors. He was a great favorite, and no scouting party could be complete unless Jesse Hughes had something to do with it.

Claiborne, Ferdinand Leigh, was born in Sussex county, Virginia, in 1772, son of Col. William Claiborne, of King William county, and Mary Leigh, his wife, daughter of Ferdi- nand Leigh. In 1793 he entered the military service of the United States as ensign of infantry, became lieutenant the following year, and rose to the rank of captain in 1799. He resigned this office in 1802 ; became brig- adier-general of the militia in Mississippi, February 5, 181 1, and subsequently com- manded a regiment of volunteers from that territory. He was made brigadier-general of United States volunteers in 18 13, and was in command at the time of the engage- ment with the Creek Indians at the Holy Ground, in December of that year. He then

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