FATHERS OF THE REVOLUTION
II
(lied in i<'>94, was born in Isle of Wight
icuinty. Virginia, was a student at William
and Mary College in 1778-1780. where he
- «iudied law under Chancellor George
Wythe. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity, and as a means of estab- lishing new bonds between the North and South obtained from the society charters for branches at Harvard and Vale. He was a member of the house of delegates in 1781, and shortly after was elected a member of the executive council. In 1783 was elected to the Continental Congress, and served till his death. October 17. 1785. and was buried in New York. He was a man of much abil- ity, and his early death was the occasion of great regret. Congress atten<led his funeral in a body, and the bill of ex])enses was dis- charged by the \'irginia legislature.
Harrison, Benjamin, son of Benjamin and •Anne i Carter) Harrison, was born at Ber- keley, on James river, in Charles City county. \*irginia. in 1726, and was a student at William and Mary College, which he left on account of a misunderstanding with a |:rotessor. He representetl Charles City county in the hou.^^e of burge.^^ses from 1749 to 1775. ^'^d ^^'^s ^^^ ^f ^^^^ leading mem- bers. He served on the committee, in Dc- cem!)er. 17^>4. which drew up the address to the King, and the remonstrances to the two houses i»f parliament against the proposed ^tamp .\ct. but. in 1765. he opposed the .^tainp Act resolutions of Patrick Henry as untimely and impolitic. He sat in the first ( ontinental Congress. 1774. and was a mem- Iht till 1777. He was a member of the com- mittee which framed the militia system, in c peration during the revolutionary war. He was chairman of the committee which con-
ducted the foreign intercourse of the united
colonies, and was at the head of the board or
war from June, 1776, until his retirement
from Congress. Sent to Maryland, he fitted
out a fleet of small vessels and stopped de-
predations on the coast, and was chairman
of the committee for fortification of ports
and protection of privateers. He presided
ever the debates in Congress upon the
Declaration of Independence, and was one
cf the signers. From May, 1778, to Novem-
ber, 1781, he was speaker of the house of
delegates of Virginia, when that body was
driven from place to place. He was governor
from November, 1781, to November. 1784,
and being ineligible for re-election, returned
to the assembly and was re-elected speaker
November 24. 1785. In 1788 he was a mem-
ber of the state convention called to con-
sider the Federal constitution, and opposed
its ratification. In 1790 he declined a re-
iiomination for governor. He died April
24, 1 79 1, the day after his unanimous
election to the legislature. He married
Elizabeth, daughter of William and Eliza-
beth (Churchill) Bassett. His eldest son.
Iicnjamin, was paymaster-general of the
southern department during the revolution,
j«nd his younge.st son. William Henry, was
ninth president of the United States.
Harrison, Carter Henry, son of Benjamin Harrison, of "Berkeley," and brother of Benjamin Harrison, the signer of the Declar- ation of Indo])endence. was born about 1727. attended William and Mary College, resided at Clifton. Cumberland county; was chair- man of the county committee of safety, and on April 22, I77^>. drafted and submitted to the people assembled at Cumberland Court House, the fir.-jt explicit instructions in favor
Digitized by
Google
