Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/27

Rh variety of hardship and personal danger. Those Alleghany valleys and hills were then a wilderness, where difficult obstructions were to be overcome, severe exposures to be endured, and savage tribes to be conciliated or encountered. For three successive years he persevered undauntedly in this occupation, having obtained a commission from the president and master of William and Mary college as a public surveyor for Culpeper County, which entitled his surveys to a place in the county office, where they were held in high esteem for completeness and accuracy. During these three years he allowed himself but little relaxation, yet found time in the winter months for an occasional visit to his mother, and for aiding her in the management of her affairs.

And now, at nineteen years of age, he received an appointment as adjutant-general, with the rank of major, to inspect and exercise the militia in one of the districts into which Virginia was divided in view of the French encroachments and the Indian depredations with which the frontiers were menaced. Before he had fairly entered on this service, however, he was called to accompany his brother Lawrence to the West Indies, on a voyage for his brother s health, and was absent from home for more than four months, during which he had a severe attack of small-pox. His brother remained longer, and returned at last only to die, leaving