Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/187

 ROSS

ROSS

tied in practice at Lancaster, Pa. He was a mem- ber of the Pennsylvania assembly, 1768-70, and prepared a declaration of riglits after the dissolu- tion of the Proprietary government. He was a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Continental congress, 1774-77 ; was the last man of the Penn- sylvania delegation to sign the Declaration of Independence, and ably contributed toward the defence of the colonies against the British. The sum of £150 was voted by Lancaster county as a testimony of their appreciation of his services in the Continental congress, but he refused the gift. He was judge of the court of admiralty for Penn- sylvania from April 14, 1779, until his death. He is the author of a report urging vigorous action in the prosecution of the defence of Philadelphia. He died in Lancaster, Pa., July 16, 1779.

ROSS, Jack FerriH, pioneer financier, was born in Franklin county, N.C., Oct. 29, 1791 ; son of the Hon. John (1754-1815) and Temperance (Ferrill) (1760-1823) Ross. He attended the Uni- versity of North Carolina, and on May 20, 1813, enlisted as third lieutenant in the 3d infantry ; was promoted second lieutenant in February, 1814, and first lieutenant in July, 1814 ; saw active service under General Jackson, and was sent to Mobile in 1814 to pay off the troops. He was re- tained in 1815 as third lieutenant of light artil- lery, U.S.A., but resigned about April 15, 1817. He was married, Feb. 11, 1817, to Anne Amelia, daughter of Col. George Fisher of Rowan county, N.C., who settled in southern Alabama. He re- moved to Alabama, and engaged as a mer- chant in St. Stephens. He was the first ter- ritorial and state treasurer of Alabama, 1818-23, and was succeeded by John C. Perry ; was one of the incorporators of the state bank at St. Ste- phens, Feb. 13, 1818, the second estabhshed in the state, and was one of the superintendents for taking stock subscriptions under the state banking act of Dec. 21, 1820. He owned large plantations in Clarke and Greene counties ; re- moved to Mobile, Ala. , in 1824 ; was sheriff of Mobile county ; a representative in the Alabama legislature, 1826-27 and 1835. and state senator in 1828. He died in Mobile, Ala., Oct. 12, 1837.

ROSS, James, senator, was born in York county, Pa., July 12, 1762. He attended the " log college " of the Rev. John McMillan, at Chartiers, 1780-82; taught Latin there, 1782-84; was ad- mitted to the bar in 1784, and established himself in practice at Washington, Pa. He was a mem- ber of the state constitutional convention in 1789; was elected to fill a vacancy in the U.S. senate in April, 1794, the election of Albert Gallatin having been declared void, Feb. 28. 1794, and took his seat, April 24. 1794. He was re-elected in 1797. and served till March 3. 1803. During the whisky insurrection in 1794, he calmed the agi-

tation of an excited gathering of citizens at Washington, Pa., in a powerful speech, and by his personal appeals organized a party opposed to the insurrection. He was appointed b}- Presi- dent Washington the chief of a commission to consult with the insurrectionists, and succeeded in ending the troubles. He was Washington's coimsel, and later became attorney in fact for the management of his large estates in western Pennsylvania. He was nominated in 1799 by the Federalists for governor of the state, but was defeated by Thomas McKean, anti-Federalist. He was consul for a party of negro refugees, who had escaped from their masters and fled to Phila- delphia, and although he won the case, his con- nection with it diminished his popularity and he was again defeated for governor in 1808. He died in Allegheny, Pa., Nov. 27, 1847.

ROSS, John, representative, was born in Sole- bury, Bucks county, Pa., Feb. 24, 1770 ; son of Thomas and Jane (Cliapman) Ross, and grandson of Thomas and Kesiah (Williamson) Ross. His grandfather, a prominent Quaker preacher, was born in 1708 in county Tyrone. Ireland, his an- cestors having been Scotch. In 1728, with his sister Elizabeth, he came to America and settled on a tract of 200 acres in Solebury Township, conveyed to him by the Penns. In 1784, in com- pany with other Friends, he sailed for England on a religious mission, and died at the liome of Lindley Murray, the grammarian, at Holdgate, near York, in 1786. John Ross was married, Nov. 19, 1795, to Mary Jenkins of Jenkintown, who was not a Quaker, and for this was disowned by the Society of Friends. It was Mary (Jenkins) Ross who presented the flag to General Washing- ton at Philadelphia in 1777. John Ross studied law with his cousin, Thomas Ross of Westchester, was admitted to the bar in 1792 and settled in practice in Easton, Pa. He was elected to the legislature, 1800 ; was defeated by Gen. Robert Brown (q.v.) for representative congress in 1816 ; and was elected to the 11th, 14th and 15th con- gresses, serving 1809-11 and 1815-18, and resign- ing, Feb. 14, 1818, to become president-judge of the seventh judicial district. In 1830 he was transferred to the bench of the supreme court, where he served until his death. He had nine children : all of his sons were educated at Prince- ton, one of them, Thomas (Princeton 1825) being a representative from Pennsylvania in the 31st and 32d congresses, 1849-53. One of Judge Ross's daughters, Camilla A., married Peter Ihrie(q.v.). Judge Ross died in Easton, Pa., Jan. 31. 1834.

ROSS, Jonathan, senator, was born in Water- ford. Vt.. April .30. 1826 : son of Ro.val and Eliza (Mason) Ross ; grandson of Jonathan and Lucy (Stoddard) Ross, and of the Rev. Reub(-n and Polly (Hibbard) Mason ; great-grandson of Roger