Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/208

 KUSH

RUSK

Court of Loudon (Vol. I. from 1817 till 1825, 1833; Vol. II. from 1819-18'2.->. 1845); Washington in Domestic Life (1S5T); Occasional Productions, Political, Diplomatic and Miscellaneous, includ- ing a Glance at the Court of Louis Philippe and the French Revolution of JS^S (1860). He died in Pliiladelpliia. Pa., July 30, 1859.

RUSH, William, sculptor, was born in Phil- adelphia. Pa.. July 4, 1756. Reserved an appren- ticesiiip to Edward Cutbusli, a wootl-carver, and became proficient in the art. He served in the patriot army during the Revolutionary war, and as a member of the city council for several years. He made a si>ecialty of figure-heads for ships, and modelled many figures and portrait-busts in clay. Among his ship carvings are : " Genius of tlie United States" for the frigate United States ; "Nature" for the frigate Constellation; "The Indian Trader " for the sliip William Penn ; " The River God" for tiie ship Ganges, and busts and figures of Voltaire, Rousseau, Franklin and Penn for various vessels. Among his statues are : Exhortation ; Praise ; Cherubim ; Winter; Agri- culture, a.nd Christ on the Cross. His statue of "Washington (1814) was purchased bj' the city of Philadelphia. His portrait-busts include that of General Lafayette (1824). He died in Philadel- phia, Pa.. Jan. 17, 1833.

RUSK, Harry Welles, representative, was born at Baltimore, Md., Oct. 17, 1852; son of Jacob K. and Catharine Olivia (Lane) Rusk ; grandson of George and Mary (Krebs) Rusk and of Samuel and Martha (Ryan) Lane, and a de- scendant of David Rusk, who was a member of Captain Cox's voluntary company of Maryland, who served during the American Revolution. He was graduated at Baltimore City college, A.B., 1866, and at Maryland University Law school, LL.B., 1872. He was a member of the Maryland house of delegates, 1876-78, and 1880-81 and of the state senate, 1884-86. He was married, Dec. 10, 1880, to Belle W., daughter of John Q. and Elizabeth (Morrow) Adams of Baltimore, Md. He was elected a representative from the third Maryland district to the 49th congress to fill the unexpired term of "William H. Cole, deceased, and was re-elected to the 50th-54th congresses, 1887-97, serving as chairman of the committee on accounts during the last session of the 54th congress.

RUSK, Jeremiah McLain, cabinet officer, was born in Morgan county, Oliio, June 17, 1S30 ; son of Daniel and Jane (Fakner) Rusk. He attended the common schools, and after his father's death in 1845. began driving a stage between Zanesville and Newark. Ohio. He moved to Bad Axe, Wis., in 1853, where he became a farmer, and continued his business as a stage-driver. He was chosen sheriff in 1855, coroner in 1857, and was a member

of the state assembly, 1862, He was commis- sioned major of the 25th Wisconsin volunteers, Sept. 14, 1862, and after some service against the Indians in Minnesota, took part in the siege of Vicksburg. He succeeded to the command of the regiment, and in 1864 participated in Sher- man's excursion to Meridian, Miss., marched to Atlanta in the 2d brigade, 4th division, 16tli corps, under General Dodge, Army of the Ten- nessee, and when Hood attacked McPherson at Atlanta, Rusk was on the right of the line, and in that engagement lost heavily. On the march from Atlanta, he was in the 2d brigade, 1st divi- sion, 17th corps; was mustered out in June, 1865, and later was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers for bravery at Salkahatchie, where he led the attacking column. He was state bank comptroller of Wisconsin, 1866-70, and was Repub- lican representative from the seventh district of Wisconsin in the 42d, 43d and 44th congresses, 1871-77, being chairman of the committee on invalid pensions during the 43J congress. Dur- ing the administration of President Garfield, he declined appointments as U.S. minister to Para- guay and Uruguay. He was governor of Wisconsin, 1882- 89, and was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in the national convention of 1888, In 1889 he was appointed secretary of agriculture in President Harrison's cabinet, a position he held until the close of the administration. He was married in 1849, to Mary Martin, who died in 1858 ; and secondly, to Elizabeth Jolinson, who survived him. He died in Viroqua. Wis., Nov. 21, 1893,

RUSK, Thomas Jefferson, senator, was born in Camden, Pendleton district, S,C., Dec. 5, 1803, of Irish descent, his father being a stone mason. He was educated under the direction and personal instruction of John C. Calhoun ; was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Georgia, where he married a granddaughter of Gen. Ben Cleveland, (q.v.), removing to Nacogdoches, Texas^ early in 1835. He was a member of the convention that declared Texas an independent republic, March 2, 1836, and a signer of its declaration ; was first secretary of war of the republic ; served with distinction as adjutant-general in the battle of San Jacinto, April 21, 1836, and was appointed brigadier-general in command of the army, May 5, 1836, during General Sam Houston's absence, Colonel M, B, Lamar succeeding him as secre- tary of war. General Rusk ratified and signed the treaty with Filisola, May 25, 1836, and to him belongs the honor of sparing the lives of Santa Anna and his chief lieutenant. He was elected a ^delegate to the convention at Washington, D.C,