Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/302

 PROMINENT PERSONS

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was connected with almost all the cases of importance which were carried to the higher courts of the state. In 1807 he held a com- mission in the Frederick township troop that marched to the seaboard when the Chcsa- l^cake was fired upon, and he was a member or the legislature in 18 14. In 1829 he was a member of the convention that framed the constitution of Virginia, and served, with Chief Justice Marshall, ex-President Madi- son and John Randolph, on the committee of seven that drafted that instrument. He possessed a vigorous and penetrating mind, j.nd has been called "the model of lofty cour- tesy, chivalry and generosity." He died at Richmond. Virginia, Decembei 10, 1S54.

Duval, John Pope, was born at Richmond, Virginia, June 3, 1790. His great-grand- frther Daniel was a French Huguenot, who settled in \'irginia in 1700: his grandfather Samuel was a member of the house of bur- gesses: and his father, Maj. William Duval, was an officer of the revolution, of high repu- tation as a chancery lawyer, who spent a large fortune in assisting the poor, and en- joyed the friendship of Washington. John Pope Duval received a liberal education at Washington College and at William and Mary, then studied law in Richmond, being admitted to the bar in 181 1. On April 9, 1S12, he became first lieutenant intheTwen- tieth United States Infantry, served on the Canadian frontier, and was promoted to the rank of captain, serving in Virginia. After the war had been terminated he resigned his commission, and engaged in the practice of law. He did not, however, meet with the success he had anticipated, so he sold his property and migrated to Florida, where his brother was governor, arriving at Talla-

hassee in June, 1827. He obtained an ex- cellent practice there, but. owing to the un- hcalthfulness of the climate, removed to Bardstown, Kentucky, in 1832, and resided there until 1836, during this time organ- izing volunteer forces during the war be- tween Texas and Mexico, and held the rank ot brigadier-general in the Texan service. Just as he was about to depart for the scene of hostilities, the war was terminated by the capture of Santa Anna. He then re- turned to Florida as secretary of the terri- tory, gained a high reputation as a lawyer there, and was commissioned by Gov. Call to make a "Digest of the Laws of Florida," 1840. While acting as governor, he secured the capture of a large body of Indians on the Appalachicola river. After the admission of Florida to the Union, he gained prominence as a Democratic politician, but was a firm supporter of the Union during the seces- sionist agitation of 1851-52. Mr. Duval died in Washington, D. C March 19, 1854.

Gilmer, Francis Walker, youngest son of Dr. George Gilmer, of *Pen Parke," Albe- marle county, and Elizabeth Hudson, his wife, daughter of Capt. Christopher Hudson, a soldier in the revolution, was born Octo- ber 9. 1790 at his father's residence. He lost both his parents when he was still a child, so that he lacked direction in his studies, which were for the most part pursued pri- vately. In 1807 he attended William and Mary College and with such success that at seventeen he was offered by Mr. Madison, president of that institution, the ushership of the grammar school in the college. His 'reading was very extensive and in point cf learning he was already deemed a pro- digy. After leaving college he studied law

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