Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/413

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

South but in the Union at large. He was aided in the printing by William Macfar- lane. his foreman, and John \V. Ferguson, one of his typesetters, which last afterwards was a prominent printer of Richmond both before and after the civil war. The first edi- tor was James E. Heath, the efficient first auditor of the state. After living to see the magazine placed on a successful and stable foundation. Mr. White died suddenly, when on a visit to Boston. January 19, 1843.

Smith, Thomas, son of Captain Thomas Smith, of Gloucester county, was educated at William and Mary College,. 1776-1778; was first secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and its second president : he was a member of the legislature in 1784, and a member of the state convention in 1788. and voted for the Federal Constitution ; he was uncle of Thomas Smith (q. v.).

Smith, Thomas, son of Rev. Armistead of Kingston parish. Mathews county, Virginia, was born March 5. 1785 ; was captain of militia and a member of the legislature for Gloucester county in 1834 and other years. He died, unmarried, April 13. 1841.

Clay, Clement Comer, born in Halifax county, Virginia, December 17, 1789, son of William Clay and Rebecca Comer, his wife. The father enlisted in the revolutionary army at the age of sixteen, and was in sev- eral battles, at the siege of Yorktown, and surrender of Cornwallis. Clement C. Clay went to Tennessee when a child, studied in private schools and was graduated from East Tennessee University in 1807 ; studied law and was admitted to the bar in 181 1 and later he removed to Alabama, took part in the wars with the Creek Indians. He was

.elected to the Alabama territorial legisla- ture; was a delegate to the first constitu- tional convention, and chairman of the com- mittee of fifteen which drafted the constitu- tion, and which was adopted as he reported it. After a term as circuit judge, he was elected to the legislature, and chosen speaker. In 1829 he was elected to con- gress, and secured the passage of an act for the relief of sorely distressed purchasers of public lands in. Alabama. In 1835. as a Democrat, he was elected governor. His administration was disturbed by difficulties with the Creek Indians, which he settled: and by the financial panic of 1837. • In that year he was elected to the United States Senate, from which he resigned in 1841 on account of the invalidism of his wife. Later he was appointed to make a digest of the laws of Alabama, and he also served a brief time on the supreme court bench of the state. In 1861 he favored secession, his property was taken by the Federals, and he was for some time kept in military custody. He took no further part in public affairs. He married Susanna Claiborne, daughter of John Withers, a native of Dinwiddie county. Virginia. He died at Huntsville, Alabama, September 9, 1866.

Cobbs, Robert Lewis, born in Louisa county. Virginia, December 25. 1789. son of Robert Cobbs. revolutionary soldier and member of the legislature, and Anne Poin- dexter, his wife. He graduated at Hamp- den-Sidney College with distinction in 1809. and from Jeflferson Medical College, Phila- delphia, in 181 1. He practiced his profes- sion with his brother. Dr. John P. Cobbs. in Amherst county, Virginia. In January, 181 3. he rode on horseback across the moun-

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