Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/316

 SEMPLE

SENEY

Bogata. Oct. 14, 1S3: to April 1, 1842; was a judge of the supreme court of Illinois in 1S43-43: was apiK>ini«-il by Guv. Tliuinus Ford to the U.S. senate to fill the vacjincy caused hy tiie death of Senator Samuel McRol)erts, March 27, 1^43, and .served to the end of McRobertss term, March 3, 1S47. declining further public office. In the senate he favored the extreme boundary line for Oregon, 'A° 40 . He invented a steam car- riage, and also wrote a history of Mexico, which was never publislied. He died at Elsah Landing, 111.. Dpc. eo. TSGG.

SE.VIPLE, Robert Baylor, clergyman, was bniii at Rosp:^Iount. King and Queen county, Va.. Jan. 20. 1709; the youngest son of John and Eliz;ibeth (Walker) Semple. John Semple em- igrated from Scotland and settled in Virginia, where he practised law and where he died about 1770. Robert B;iylor Semple was educated b}^ liis mother and in the academy conducted by the Rev. Peter Nelson, an Episcopal clergyman, and was made assistant in the academy in 1785. after which he tutored in a private family and studied law. In December, 17b9, he was received in the Baptist church, being ordained, Sept. 20, 1790; and served as pastor of the Baptist church at Bruington, Va., 1790-1831. He was married, March 1, 1793. to Ann, daughter of Col. Thomas Loury of Caroline county, Va.; established and conducted a school at Mordington, King and Queen county, with the aid of Jiis wife, mean- while making frequent preaching tours in lower Virginia. He was a trustee of Columbian college, Washington, D.C., 1821-31; financial agent, 1827- 31, and president of the board of trustees, 1827- 31. He declined the presidency of Transylvania imiversity in 180.5. He was an active member of the Virginia Baptist Missionary society and of the Colonization society, and was president of the Baptist Triennial convention, 1820-31, He re- ceived the honorary degree A.M. from Brown university in 1814, and declined the degree D.D. from Brown in 1824, and from the College of William and Mary in 1826. He is the author of a Catechism for the Use of Children (1809); Histortf of Virginia Bojitists (1810); Memoir of Elder Struughun, and Letters to Alexander Camp- bell. He died at Mordington, near Bruington, Va.. D'-c. 25. 1<^31.

SENEY, George Ebbert, representative, was born in Uniontown, Fayette County, Pa., May 29, 1832: son of Joshua and Ann (Ebbert) Seney; grandson of Joshua and Frances (Nicholson) Seney and of George and Sarali (Wood) Ebbert; and groat-grandson of Col. John Seney, and of Comrao lore James Nicholson, the former in the army, the latter in the navy, in the Revolution- ary war. In November, 1S,32. liis parents re- moved to Tiffin, Ohio, He was educated at Nor-

walk seminary, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in 1853. He was a candidate ior presidential elector on the Buchanan and Breckinridge ticket in 1856: and was elected judge of the court of common pleas of the third judicial di.strict in 1857. In July, 1862, he enlisted in the 101st Ohio regiment; was promoted 1st lieutenant, and served as quartermaster of the regiment. He was a delegate to the Democratic national con- vention of 1876; was married in 1879 to Anna, daughterof Joseph and Rebecca (Hedgas) Walker of Tiffin, and was a Democratic representative from the fifth district of Ohio in the 48th-51st congresses. 1883-91. He continued the practice of law at Tiffin, but took no active part in poli- tics after 1891.

SENEY, George Ingraham, philanthropist, was born in Astoria. L.I., May 12, 1826; son of the Rev. Robert Seney. and grandson of Joshua and Frances (Nicholson) Seney. He attended Wes- leyan university. Middletown, Conn., 1842-43; was graduated from the University of the City of New York in 1846, and engaged in the banking business in New York city, becoming president of the Metropolitan bank in 1877, and holding the office till 1884, when the bank suspended payment and he lost a large fortune. He was interested in several railroad ventures, including the construc- tion of the " Nickel-Plate " road. He was married in 1849 to Phoebe A., daughter of Samuel Mosier. He was a trustee of Wesleyan university, 1871- 93: manager of the missionary society of the M.E. church, and a delegate to the general conference in 1880. He contributed largely to charitable and educational institutions, includ- ing §410,000 to the Methodist General Hospital, Brooklyn, N.Y.; $100,000 to the Long Island Historical society; $250,000 to Emory college and Wesleyan Female college, Macon. Ga., and $100,000 to benevolent objects in Brooklyn. He founded the Seney scholarships at Wesleyan uni- versity, and the Seney hospital, Brooklyn. N.Y. with an endowment of $500,000. The degree of A.M. was conferred on him by Wesleyan in 1866. He died in New York city, April 7, 1893.

SENEY, Joshua, delegate, was born in Queen Anne county. Md., March 4, 1756: son of Col. John (an officer in the Patriot army during the Revo- lutionary war) and Ruth (Benton) Seney. He became a prominent lawyer and a distinguished judge in Baltimore. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary war he joined the patriot cause, was a member of the last Continental congress, 1787-88, and of the 1st and 2d congresses under the constitution of the United States and was elected to the 3d congress May 1. 1792. but resigned before the 2d congress adjourned and was suc- ceeded by William Hindman, who took his seat before Jan. 30, 1793, completed his term in the 2d