others. The country on the Holston was then exposed to Indian inroads, and Mr. Cummings was in the habit of carrying his rifle with him into the pulpit. On one occasion he was engaged in a deadly conflict with the Indians. In 1776 he accompanied the troops under Colonel Christian in their expedition against the Cherokees, and was the first minister that ever preached in Tennessee. He died in 1812.
The Rev. James Madison, D. D., was born August 27, 1749, near Port Republic, then in Augusta county. He was educated at William and Mary College, and first studied law, but soon abandoned that profession for the ministry. In 1773 he was chosen Professor of Mathematics in William and Mary, and going to England was there licensed as a minister by the Bishop of London. Returning to Virginia he resumed his place in the College, of which he became President in 1777. He presided as Bishop over the first Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Virginia in May, 1785. During the same year the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by the University of Pennsylvania. He died in 1815. His children were a son, James C. Madison, of Roanoke county, and a daughter, Mrs. Robert G. Scott, of Richmond.
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