Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/305

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

work, meantime studying law. He moved tc Macon, Mississippi, and thence to Liv- ingston, Alabama, where he began to achieve success in literature as well as in his profes- sion. In 1844 he was a member of the Ala- bama legislature, and in 1849 ^^'^^ ^^ ^^' successful candidate for congress. He re- moved to California, and was a judge of the supreme court from 1857 to 1862, and was chief justice from 1863 to January, 1864, when he resigned to engage in law practice. In 1853 ^^ wrote "Flush Times in Alabama and Mississippi/' which was regarded as containing the best delineations of southern character in the days prior to the war, abounding in quaint humor ; and in the same year he produced "Party Leaders," being judicial estimates of political celebrities; and "Humorous Legal Sketches," a work of surpassing humor and quaint philosophy. His biographer spoke of him as "an able lawyer, an eloquent advocate, a learned jur- ist, a sparkling wit." He married a daugh- ter of Hon. John White, of California. He died in 1866, leaving, among other children, a son, Alexander W. Baldwin, a well known jurist, who was killed in a railway accident in Nevada in 1869.

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Carruthers» William A., was born in Vir- ginia about 1800. He was a student at Washington College, Virginia, about 1818, being educated there for the profession of medicine. He was the author of romances, full of spirit and animation, and based mainly on American historical facts, and these enjoyed great popularity at the time. Upon his removal to Savannah, he engaged ir. medical practice, and also contributed to the "Magnolia" and other southern maga- zines. In 1838 he gave an account, in the

"Knickerbocker Magazine." of a hazardous ascent of the natural bridge in Virginia. His published works are: 'The Cavaliers of \'irginia, or the Recluse of Jamestown, an Historical Romance of the Old Dominion," depicting the scenes of Bacon's Rebellion and the conflict between Royalists and Cromwellians in Virginia (Xew York, 1832) ; "The Kentuckian in Xew York, or the Ad- ventures of Three Southerners," a volume oi descriptive sketches with romantic inci- dents; "The Knights of the Horse-Shoe, a Traditionary Tale of the Cocked Hat Gentry ill the Old Dominion," the scene of which is laid in Virginia in the time of Gov. Sp)Ots- wood (Wetumpka. Alabama, 1845) ; and a "Life of Dr. Caldwell." He died at Savan- nah. Georgia, about 1850.

Chapman, John Gadsby, was born in Alex- andria. Virginia, in 1808. From his earliest years he displayed remarkable talent for art, and was sent to Italy to study under the best masters. Upon his return to America he settled in New York, and there was elected a member of the National Academy in 1836. He was especially successful as an etcher and wood engraver, being engaged to make illustrations for many books. Among the best known of his works of this kind are "Harper's Illustrated Bible," and a "Draw- ing-Book," which passed through many edi- tions in this country and in England. He returned to Italy in 1848, and from that time made his studio in Rome. la 1839 and in 1878 he visited this country. In 1888 he was one of the three survivors of the orig- inal members of the "Sketch Club," estab- lished in New York about 1830, the others being a sister of Robert C. Sands, and Prof. Robert W. Weir. The paintings of Mr.

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