Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/171

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
McLANE
McLaren

ish dragoons near Frankford, Pa., he killed one, wounded another, and compelled the third to retire. On his return to civil life he was first made judge of the court of ap- feals of Delaware, n 1790 Washing- ton appointed him U. S. marshal of that state, which post he held until 1798. In 1808 Jef- ferson appointed him collector of the port of Wil- mington, Del., in which office he re- mained until his death, having been reappointed under three different ad- ministrations, irre-

spective of party.

He was also a member and speaker of the legislature. — His son. Louis, statesman, b. in Smvrna, Del., 28 Mav, 1786; d. in Baltimore, Md., 7 Oct., 1857. entered the U. S. navy as midshipman at the age of twelve and cruised one year in the " Philadelphia " under Com. Stephen Decatur. In 1801 he left the navy and entered Newark college, Del., afterward studying law under James A. Bayard, and being admitted to the bar in 1807, when he began to practise in Smyrna. He served as a volunteer in CsBsar A. Rodney's com- pany in the defence of Baltimore against the threat- ened attack of the British in 1814, and was after- ward elected to congress as a Democrat, serving from 1 Dec, 1817, till 3 March, 1827, and voting against the admission of slaverv into Missouri and the territories. From 3 Dec, "1827, till 16 April, 1829, he served as U. S. senator, resigning to accept the appointment of minister to England, which post he held from 18 April, 1829, till 6 July, 1831, when he resigned to become secretarv of the treasury. He held this office from 8 Aug.,' 1831, till 29 May, 1833, and he was then transferred to the depart- ment of state in consequence of his refusal to sanc- tion the removal of the deposits from the Bank of the United States. In 1834 he retired from political life to his estate in Cecil county, Md. From 1837 till 1847 he was president of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company, whose affairs he managed with vigor and success. He was again appointed minis- ter to England during the Oregon negotiations, but resigned after their settlement, serving from 16 June, 1845, till 18 Aug., 1846. His last public service was as a delegate to the Maryland constitutional convention of 1850-'l. — Louis's eldest son, Robert Milligan, diplomatist, b. in Wilmington. Del., 23 June, 1815 ; d. in Paris. 16 April, 1898. After at- tending St. Mary's college, Baltimore, he was placed by his father in the College Bourbon, Paris. He afterward entered the U. S. military academy, where he was graduated in 1837, and assigned to the 1st artillery. He joined his regiment the same summer in Florida, and took an active part in the Seminole war. The next year he joined Gen. Win- field Scott in the Cherokee country, Georgia, and after another period of service in Florida, under Gen. Taylor, he was ordered to join Capt. Augustus Canfield. in the autumn of 1839, in a military survey of the northern lakes, and in 1841 he was sent to Europe for the purpose of examining the system of dikes and drainage in Holland and Italy. Before going to Europe he had studied law. and had been admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia, and in 1843 he resigned his commission in the army and began the practice of his profession. He took an immediate and commanding position as a public speaker in Marvland, and in the exciting presi- dential campaign of 1844 made extraordinary ef- forts to carry the state for the Democrats. The next vear he was elected to congress, and he was re- elected in 1847. He supported the Mexican-war policv of Polk's administration, and in 1849 was again elected to congress by an increased majority. At the expiration of his third successive term he went to California, where he was actively engaged in professional business until the summer of 1852. In the autumn of that year he was elected one of the Maryland presidential electors, and the next year he was appointed U. S. commissioner to China with the power of a minister plenipotentiary, being at the same time accredited to Japan. Siam. Corea, and Cochin-China. He arrived at Hong Kong in April, 1854, having an important naval force under his control. The object of his mission being ac- complished. he requested to be recalled.and returned home early in 1856. The same year he was a Mary- land delegate to the National Democratic conven- tion that nominated James Buchanan for the presidency. In 1859 he was appointed minister to Mexico, and negotiated a treaty for the protection of the lives and property of' American citizens. After the secession of the cotton states he resigned, and. returning to Baltimore, took an active part in the public discussions of the winter of 1861. When the Maryland legislature met in extra session, in May. 1861. he was one of a committee to confer with President Lincoln in reference to what were regarded as the unconstitutional proceedings of the U. S. authorities within the state. Upon the report of this commission, the legislature resolved that it was inexpedient for the state to secede. He re- tired from public life from that time, and was en- gaged for several years as counsel for the Western Pacific railroad, his duties requiring him to spend his time between New York, Paris, and San Francisco. In 1876 he was one of the Mary- land delegates to the National Democratic convention that nom- inated Samuel J. Til- den for the presi- dency, and the next year he was elected a Maryland state sena- tor for four years, but in 1878 he was elected to the house of representatives, and re - elected in 1880. In 1883 he was

elected governor of

Maryland, but he resigned in 1885, upon being appointed minister ta France by President Cleveland.


McLaren, Donald Campbell, clergyman, b. in New York city, 3 Oct.. 1794 ; d. in Geneva. N. Y., 7 May, 1882. He was graduated at Union college in 1813, studied theology under Rev. John M. Mason in New York, and held pastorates in Cambridge and Caledonia, N. Y. He was moderator of the general assembly of the Associate Reformed church at the meeting in Pittsburg, when by union with the Associate church the United Presbyterian church was formed. Jefferson college, Washington, Pa., gave him the degree of D. D. in 1857. In addition to pamphlets and sermons he published a new version of