ISO
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
ment to the troops. In December, 1782, he
joined in an attack on a lot of British barges
off Accomack Bay, but the Americans were
defeated and Cropper was wounded and
taken prisoner. Subsequently he was a
member of the house of delegates (1784-
1792). In the war of 181 2 he served as
colonel of militia, and in 1815 he was com-
missioned brigadier-general of the Twenty-
first Brigade. Served in the state senate
from 1813 10 1817, and in 1816 was president
of the Virginia branch of the Cincinnati
Society. He was a g^eat friend of Gen.
Washington, and spoke always in most
affectionate terms of the great commander.
He died at his residence. January 15, 1821.
His daughter, Sarah Corbin, married Major
John Wise, speaker of the senate, and was
mother of Gen. Henry A. Wise.
Kenton, Simon, born in Fauquier county, Virginia, in March, 1755, of Scotch and Irish parents. He did field labor, and in his sixteenth year, in a quarrel arising from a love affair, severely wounded his rival, and fled to the mountains. At Cheat river he changed his name to Simon Butler, and with George Yeager and John Strader en- gaged in hunting. In 1771 went exploring tc •*Kaintuckce," and later, while hunting along the Little Kanawha, they were at- tacked by Indians and retreated to the Green Briar. Kenton was afterward a spy for Lord Dunmore, at Fort Pitt. Later he again explored Kentucky, and planted the first corn there. The settlement was re- peatedly attacked by Indians, and Kenton is credited with saving the life of Daniel Boone. In 1778 he was captured by In- dians, and after being tortured was doomed to death, but was saved by Samuel Girty. He was afterward to be burned, but through
intercession of Chief Logan was held for
ransom, and subsequently escaped. He
traveled to Vincennes and joined Gen.
George Rogers Clark, who made him cap-
tain of a company of volunteers at Harrod's
Station. After defeating the Indians the
company was disbanded, and Kenton, learn-
ing that his foeman of years ago had sur-
vived his wounds, resumed his proper name,
and returned home. In 1784 he founded a
settlement at Limestone, and g^ve to Arthur
Fox and William Wood a thousand-acre
tract on which they laid out the town of
Washington. In the Indian war of 1793,
Kenton served as major. He was now one
of the wealthiest men in Kentucky, but
owing to his ignorance of legal proceedings,
was reduced to poverty. In 1802 he settled
at what became Urbana, Ohio, was made
brigadier-general of militia, and served
under Gen. Harrison in the battle of Mo-
ravia township. He died in Ohio, in April,
1836.
Parmale, Elisha, was born at Goshen, Connecticut, Februar}" 22, 1755, graduated from Harvard in 1778, and in 1779 came to Virginia because of his health and taught in Surry county. In July 1779 he came to Williamsburg, Virginia, and became a mem- ber of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity of William and Mary College. On December 5. 1779, the society refused him permission to establish a society "to be conducted in a less mysterious manner than the Phi Beta Kappa." They thanked him, however, for his zeal, and granted him leave to establish a branch at Harvard, to be called the Ep- silon, and one at Yale to be called the Zeta, and from these the fraternity spread to many colleges in the North. He settled in Lee, Massachusetts, and was given a church
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