Lawyer; born in
Dumfries, Va., about 1772; graduated at Columbia College in 1790; began the practice of law in
Dumfries, but later settled in
Fairfax county, where he recruited the “
Fairfax light-horse” which he led in the
War of 1812.
He was acting
Secretary of War in 1815-18; and was then sent on a perilous mission to
Galveston Island, where
General Lallemande, the
chief of artillery in Napoleon's army, had founded a colony with 600 armed settlers, whom he persuaded to give up their undertaking and submit to the United States government.
He is also said to have been instrumental in saving the government $250,000 by successfully concluding the “Indian factorage” affairs.
He died in
Washington, D. C., in August, 1830.