Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/44

 FATHERS OF THE REVOLUTION

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died June zj, 1795. and was buried in the churchyard at Jamestown. He left one son, William Ludweli Lee, who died without i« sue ; and two daughters — Portia, who mar- ried William Hodgson, of White Haven, England, and Cornelia, who married John Hopkins, Esq.. of Richmond, Virginia.

Lewis, Andrew (q. v., i-277).

Lewis, Thomas (q. v., i-278).

Lyons, Peter, a native of Ireland, mi- grated to Virginia about 1750, and studied law under James Power, an English gentle- man, resident in King William county, Vir- ginia, whose daughter he married. He was the attorney tor Mr. Maury in the famous parson's cause in 1763, when Patrick Henry made his famous debut as an orator. He was a friend of the revolution, and in 1779 was made judge of the general court, and thereby became cx-officio a judge of the first supreme court of appeals. In 1789 he was appointed a judge of the new court of appeals, consisting of five judges, and held office till his death. In 1803 he became president on the death of Judge Pendleton. He died July 30, 1809.

Madison, James, son of Colonel James Madison, and Eleanor (Rose) Conway, his wife, was descended from John Madison, a shipwright, who took out a patent for land in 1653. His father was a man of large estate, president of the county court of Orange, and colonel of the county militia. He was born March 16, 1751, and as a boy attended the schools of Donald Robertson and Rev. Mr. Martin. In 1769 he went to Princeton College, where he showed his natural brilliancy of mind in graduating in two years. He continued a year longer

studying under the advice of President Withcrspoon, and on his return to Virginia continued the life of a student at home, as his health was bad. He was a member of the revolutionary committee of Orange county, in 1774, and was elected two years later a member of the May convention, 1776. Notwithstanding his youth, his influence was promptly felt, and it was on his motion that the word "toleration" was struck from George Mason's draft of the Declaration of Rights, and the word "freedom" used in its place. He lost his election to the general a.<*sembly, in 1777, because of his refusal to treat and electioneer, but was elected to the executive council by the general assembly in the winter of 1 777-1 778. He remained a member two years, when he was elected by the general assembly a member of Congress, in which body he served until the fall of 1783. It was in this assembly that Madison began the work which ultimately led to a new constitution and the granting of na- tional powers to the Federal government. He zealously advocated the grant to Con- gross for twenty-five years of the authority to levy an impost duty, independent of the states, and his address to the people of the Lnited States in advocacy was one of his ablest state papers. He served in the house of delegates of Virginia in 1784 and 1785, and as chairman of the judiciary committee was particularly instrumental in securing the adoption of many of the laws proposed by Jefferson and the other revisors in 1779. He supported the grant of the impost to Congress, and advocated retaliation against Great Britain for its commercial restric- tions : and when the motion of John Tyler v^'as adopted for a general commercial meet- ing of the states at Annapolis, he was ap-

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