Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/370

 PROMINENT PERSONS

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Chester, and was in the battle with the Brit- ish and Indians near Frenchtown, January 18, 1813. He was taken prisoner in the de- feat on the river Raisin, January 22, 1813, and was sent to Quebec, but he was released ill 1814. For more than twenty years he was auditor of public accounts in Kentucky, and in 1816 he was nominated for governor. He was so popular that his opponent with- drew and he was elected for four years, but before entering on the duties of his office died at Paris, Kentucky, October 14, 1816.

Payne, Dcvall, born in Fairfax county, Virginia, January i, 1764, son of William Payne, whose paternal ancestor came to this country at any early date. He removed to Kentucky in 1789, settling near Lexing- t(»n. He joined Captain Kenneth McCoy's cavalry, and served under General Charles Scott against the Indians in 1791. In 1792 he removed to Mason county, where he lived until his death. He was active against the Indians. He was a surveyor, and also a county magistrate. He was major in Colo- nel Richard M. Johnson's mounted cavalry in 1813. and fought at the battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813, where he made a gallant charge. He served several years in the legislature. He died in Mason county, Kentucky, June 21, 1830.

Weakley, Robert, born in Halifax county, Virginia, July 20, 1764. He entered the revolutionary army at the age of sixteen, and served till the end of the war, then went beyond the Alleghanies, having only a horse, saddle and bridle, and one dollar and seventy-five cents in money. He was a colonel of the riflemen with whom James Robertson defeated the Creeks and Chero- kees. When but twenty-two years of age.

hf was elected to the North Carolina con- vention that ratified the Federal constitu- tion, and afterwards was a member of the Tennessee house of representatives. In 1809 he was elected to congress, and in 181 1 to the state senate, of which he was speaker, 1819-21, and again 1823-25. His last office was that of member of the convention to re- vise the constitution of Tennessee in 1834. In early life he was a Methodist, but, marry- ing a woman who was not a church mem- ber, he was called to account, and told that it he expressed regret no further action v/ould be taken; this he refused to do, and thenceforward he was connected with no religious body. He died near Nashville, Tennessee, February 4, 1845.

Lewis, William, born in Virginia in 1765. He served in the Indian war in 1791, and was captain under Gen. Arthur St. Clair, resigning in 1797. He was lieutenant-colo- nel of Kentucky, volunteers in the war of 1812. and commander in the action with the British and Indians at Frenchtown, on the liver Raisin, January 8, 1813. He also served under Gen. James Winchester at his defeat there in the same month, where he v.as captured and held a prisoner two years in Quebec. He died in Little Rock, Arkan- sas, January 17, 1825.

Lylc, John, born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, October 20, 1769, was distinguish- ed as being the first person to establish .schools exclusively for young women, also was the first to suggest the dissemination cf the Scriptures through the agency of col- porteurs. He graduated from Liberty Hall in 1794, studied divinity, and was licensed as a Presbyterian preacher in 1797. He was ordained in 1797, and from then until 1810

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