Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 3.djvu/336

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

dieted for treason. He presided over the court in May, 1867, when the Confederate leader was released. He was bitterly de- nounced in the South on account of his vio- lent and unbecoming partisanship, and was forced to defend suits brought against him on account of his decrees sanctioning confis- cation. He died in Washington, D. C., De- cember 7, 1873.

Price, Thomas Lawson, born near Dan- ville, \irginia, January 19, 1809. In 1831 he settled in JefTerson City, Missouri, at first engaged in mercantile pursuits, and afterward bought and sold real estate. In 1838 he obtained the contract for carrying the mail between St. Louis and Jefferson City, and established the first stage line be- tween those places. Later he gained control of all the stage routes in the state, and be- came lessee of the state penitentiary. He was the first mayor of JelTerson City in 1838, and was reelected. In 1847 ^^^ ^^as ap- pointed brevet major-general of Missouri militia, and in 1849 he was elected lieuten- ant-governor as a Democrat. In 1856 Gen- eral Price headed a Benton delegation to the Democratic national convention that nominated James Buchanan, but was not admitted. In i860 he served in the state legislature, and on September 21, 1861, was appointed by General John C. Fremont brig- adier-general of volunteers. The appoint- ment expired by limitation, July 17, 1862. He was elected to congress in place of John W. Reid, expelled, and served from January 21, 1862, till March 3, 1863. In 1864 he was nominated by the Unionists for governor. His health now began to fail, and his only subsequent appearance in public life was as delegate to the Democratic national con-

vention in 1868, where he acted as vice- president when Horatio Seymour was nomi- nated. He was connected with railroad ailairs both as contractor and officer, and, as a member of the legislature, he was largely instrumental in inducing the state to lend its aid to the construction of Iron Mountain and Hannibal & St. Joseph rail- roads ; and was also identified with the con- struction of the Missouri Pacific and the Kansas Pacific roads. Besides building the greater part of the Kansas Pacific, he was also a fund commissioner and director of that road, and united with other capitalists in extending the line from Denver to Chey- enne. He died in Jefferson City, Missouri, July 16, 1870.

Harris, John Woods, born in Nelson coun- ty, Virginia, in 1810. He became a lawyer, was admitted to the bar. and began practice in Texas, in 1838. During the earlier years his practice was general, but after the civil war he confined himself chiefly to important cases in the higher courts. He was a mem- ber of the first congress of Texas, at Austin, ir; 1838. In 1841 he proposed abolishing the Mexican laws, and engrafting the common law on the jurisprudence of the republic. He was made attorney-general of Texas in 1846, was reappointed, and in 1854 was one of a commission to revise the laws of the state. He was a staunch Democrat, and though opposed to secession he finally ac- cepted it when Lincoln left no alternative, and gave a loyal support to the Confed- eracy. He died at Galveston, Texas, April I. 1887.

Smith, Benjamin Mosby, horn in Pow- hatan count}-. \'irginia. June 30. 181 1 : grad- uated at Ilanipden-Sidney College in 1829,