Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/389

 336

VIRGIXIA DIOGRAPIJY

Hall, John, born in Augusta county, \'ir- ginia. May 31, 1767. He was graduated at \\ illiam and Mary College, and studied law with his kinsman. Judge Stuart, the father of A. H. H. Stuart. He removed to W'ar- r<.ntown. North Carolina, in 1792; was made a judge of the superior court in 1800. which uas then the highest court in the state. On the organization of the present superior court system in i8or» he rode the circuits in rotation, and. in 1818. on the organization of the present supreme court, was elected along with John Lewis Taylor and Leonard Henderson, to form its judiciary. Although the senior in years, he did not insist on be- aming the chief justice on the death of 1 aylur in 1829. He was a presidential elec- t(»r on the Jackson ticket in 1829.. and re- signed his judgeship in December, 1832. He was not brilliant nor showy, but was a safe judge, being thoroughly impartial and un- biased. He died at Warrentown. North Carolina. January 29, 1833.

James, Benjamin, born in Stafford county, Virginia, in April. 1768, died in Laurens dis- trict. South Carolina, November 15, 1825. He was educated in Virginia, and prepared lor the law in Charleston, South Carolina, where he was admitted to the bar and prac- ticed until 1796. He then returned to Staf- ford county, Virginia, and there practiced utitil 1808. when he abandoned his profes- sion. He was the author of a "Digest of th*? Statute and Common Law of Carolina," published in Columbia in 1814. In 1808 he moved to the Laurens district. South Caro- lina, and was elected state senator.

Ambler, John, born September 25, 1762. son of Edward Ambler, of Jamestown, Vir- ginia, went to Philadelphia to school, and

ii» 1782 fell heir to Jamestown Island and all the other great estates of his parents. He served in the legislature at twenty-one and was the captain of a cavalry troop of James City county. He removed to Richmond in 1807 and was made major of the Nineteenth Regiment of Virginia militia, commanding the troops which were sent to Norfolk at the time of the attack on the Chcsaf'cakc: afterwards was made colonel of the Nine- teenth Regiment of state troops and served m the war of 1812. He was one of the jury that tried Aaron Burr for treastm. He died April 8. 183C1. and was buried in Shockoe Cemetery. Richmond.

Harvie,Jaquelin Burwcll, son of Col. John Harvie, a delegate from X'irginia to the con- tinental congress, 177S-1779. wa> born in Richmond. October 9. 1788. He was pre- pared for the navy and served as a midsr.ip- n^an ; he resigned to assist his mother in the management of her estate. He was a state senator and major-general of militia for the eastern district of \'irginia. He had large business interests in Richmond in the dock and water works and the Belle Isle nail fac- tory. He married Mary Marshall, daugh- ter of Chief Justice John Marshall.

Wirt, William, born at Bladensburg, Prince George county, Maryland. Novem- ber 8, 1772, son of Jacob Wirt, a tavern keeper and native of Switzerland. He was sent to a school at Georgetown, D. C, and then to that of the Rev. James Hunt, in Montgomery county, Maryland, where he remained until he was nearly fifteen, and made rapid progress. While acting as a private tutor he kept up his studies and his practice in writing. He was admitted to the bar in 1792 and opened an office at Culpeper

Digitized by

Google