Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/616

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584
GALUSHA
GALVEZ

encouragement of direct foreign trade ; the aboli- tion of the canal and Lake St. Peter tolls ; and the issuing of provincial notes as currency. He was president of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic rail- way in 1852-3, and carried out the amalgaraation of that line with the Quebec and Richmond, To- ronto and Guelph, and Montreal and Toronto, forming the railway system now known as the Grand Trunk railway, of which line he was in 1857-8 a government director. He declined the . honor of the C. B. (civil) in 18G7, but in 1869 was created a K. C. M. G., and in May, 1878, was ad- vanced to the dignity of Knight Grand Cross. He is an honorary LL. D. of Edinburgh university, and received a diploma for special services in con- nection with the international fisheries exhibition in London in 1883. During the early part of his political career Sir Alexander was a Liberal in poli- tics, but from 1857 he has allied himself to the Lib- eral Conservatives. He is the author of " Canada from 1849 to 1859," and several pamphlets.


GALUSHA, Jonas, statesman, b. in Norwalk, Conn., 11 Feb., 1753; d. in Shaftsbury, Vt., 24 Sept., 1834. He removed to Shaftsbury in 1775, and in the battle of Bennington led two companies. Besides filling many minor offices, he was councillor for thirteen years, judge of the supreme coui't for two years, and governor of the state from 1809 till 1813, and again from 1815 till 1820. In 1808, 1820, and 1824 "he was a presidential elector. He was president of the constitutional conventions of 1814 and 1823. In his religious sentiments Gov. Galusha took an interest in the affairs of the Bap- tist church, of which he was a member. — His son, Elon, clergyman, b. in Shal'tsbury, Vt. ; d. in Lock- port, N. Y., 13 June, 1859, was ordained to the Bap- tist ministry in early life, and served as pastor of churches in Whitesborough, Utica, Rochester, and Lockport, N. Y. At one time he was president of the Baptist missionary convention of New York. He was an attractive preacher, and one of the most widely known and esteemed among the Bap- tist ministers of his generation.


GALVEZ, José de (gar-veth), Marquis of Sonora, Spanish lawyer and statesman, b. in Velez-Malaga in 1729 ; d. in Madrid in 1786. He was graduated in law at the University of Alcala de Henares, and gained considerable distinction by his eloquence in the defence of several lawsuits. He became ac- quainted in Madrid with the French ambassador, Marquis de Duras, who engaged him as an assist- ant in the prosecution of claims at the Spanish court. There Galvez attracted the attention of Charles III.'s prime minister, the Marquis of Grim- aldi, and became his private secretary. In 1764 he was appointed a member of the council of the In- dies, and in 1771 sent on a mission to Mexico to settle difficulties that had arisen between the au- diencia and the proprietors of the mines regarding revenue. He soon arranged everything satisfac- torily, introduced improvements into the adminis- tration, which saved several millions yearly to the government, and made several voyages into the in- terior to study the situation and the necessities of the country. He returned to Spain in 1774, and next year was appointed president of the council of the Indies, in which office, the most important in the kingdom after that of prime minister, he rendered great service to the state and the colonies. In 1779 he founded in the valley of Sonora in Mexi- co a colony, which soon prospered, and for which he was created a marquis. — His brother, Matias, b. in Velez-Malaga in 1731 ; d. in the city of Mexi- co, 3 Nov., 1784, entered the administration thi'ough the influence of his brother Jose, and obtained rapid promotion, being appointed in 1781 captain- general of Guatemala. There he laid in 1782 the foundation of the new cathedral, after the removal of the capital from old Guatemala, which had been ruined by the earthquakes of 1773. In the same year war began with England, and the British forces occupied several places on the Atlantic coast, but Galvez in 1782-'3 successively drove them from Omoa, Roatan. San Juan, RioTinto, and Bluefields, and in recoinpcnse was appointed in the latter year viceroy of Mexico. During his short administra- tion he had the streets of the capital cleaned and paved, and patronized the Academy of fine arts, for which he ordered from Italy plaster models of the principal art-treasures. During his administration Alejandro Valdes began to publish " La Gaceta." the first newspaper of Mexico. He also proposed to the home government the establishment of a bank of loans, for which he had abundant subscrip- tions, and, although the idea was not executed in his time, he may be considered as the originator of the banking system in Spanish America. In 1784 the small-pox ravaged Mexico, and Galvez was ac- tive in mitigating the sufferings of the poorer class. — His son, Bernardo, b. in Malaga in 1755 ; d. in the city of Mexico, 30 Nov., 1786, was called to court at the age of sixteen years by his uncle, the minister, and entered as cadet in the regiment of Walloon guards. Wishing to perfect himself in military science, he obtained leave of absence in 1772 and went to France, where he served three years in the regiment of Cantabria, and was promoted lieuten- ant. In 1775, when Charles III. de- clared war against Algiers, Galvez re- turned to Spain and served as captain in the expedition of Gen. O'Reilly. He distinguished

himself in several

encounters with the Moors, rose to the rank of colonel, and on his return in the same year was given the rank of brigadier. Early in 1776 he was appointed second in command to the governor of Louisiana, Luis de Unzaga, and after the pro- motion of the latter to be captain-general of Cara- cas, toward the end of the year, took charge of the government. He made great improvements in several branches of the administration, and gath- ered and colonized several tribes of wandering In- dians, whom he succeeded in civilizing. In 1778 the Continental congress sent Capt. Willing as agent to New Orleans, and Galvez assisted him secretly with arms and ammunition and $70,000 in cash. Spain offered her mediation between the colonies and Great Britain, and, her offer being repulsed by the latter, declared war on 16 June, 1779. Galvez immediately formed a plan of campaign, and, although he had only a small military force under his command, he did not wait for re-enforcements, but, organizing volunteer regiments, marched northward on the eastern river bank. He took Fort Manchae on 27 Aug., and in September captured Baton Rouge, Fort" Panmure, and Fort Natchez. In October he received re-enforcements from Havana, and was made a major-general. He then in-