Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/272

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PROMINENT PERSONS


221


c(l., Phil., 1843) ; "The Last of the Lenape, and Other Poems" (1839); "The Teacher's Gift," essays in prose and verse (1840) ; "An Historical Sketch of the Christian Church during the Middle Ages" (1847); **Life of William Penn" (1852; 3rd ed., 1856) ; **Life of George Fox" (1853) » 2tnd a "History of the Religious Society of Friends, from its Rise to the year 1828" (4 vols., 1860-67) ; died in Loudoun county, Virginia, April 30, 1880.

Mann, Ambrose Dudley, born at Hanover Court House, Virginia, April 26, 1801 ; after preparatory studies he became a cadet at the United States Military Academy, but deciding upon the legal profession for his life work, resigned from that institution ; in 1842 he received the appointment of United States consul to Bremen, Germany, from President Tyler, three years later negotiated commercial treaties with Hanover, Olden- burg and Mecklenburg, and in 1847 with all the other German provinces except Prussia ; in 1849 he was appointed United States commissioner to Hungary, from 1850 to 1854 served as United States minister to Switzerland by appointment of President Fillmore, and he negotiated a reciprocal treaty with that republic ; from 1854 to 1836 he served in the capacity of assistant secre- tary of the state of Virginia, and was sent to Europe by the Confederate government on a special mission to England and France for the accomplishment of which he was soon after joined by James ^L Mason and John Slidell : he made his home in France after the fall of the Confederacy, and he de- voted the remaining years of his life to the preparation of his "Memoirs." which were published after his death, which occurred in Paris, France, November 20, 1889.


Munford, George Wythe, born in Rich- mond, Virginia, January 8, 1803, son of Wil- liam Munford, Esq. (q. v.) ; was named in honor of the distinguished chancellor, George Wythe, the intimate friend of his father. He inherited from his distinguished father that strength of mind and fondness for intellectual labor, which were his life- long characteristics. He completed his classical education at the College of Wil- liam and Mary, and, after his graduation, entered upon the study of the law. How- ever, he was called to another sphere of usefulness. He was employed by his father, at that time clerk of the house of delegates, as an assistant, and whom, by election, he succeeded at his death. For more than twenty-five years he kept the journal in a manner which reflected much credit upon him. and when the convention of 1829 con- vened his reputation secured his election as secretary of that body. In that capacity he was thrown into daily contact with James Monroe, James Madison, John Marshall, John Randolph, Abel P. Upshur, and other distingfuished men, and was more thor- oughly acquainted with the public men of Virginia than any other man of his genera- tion. After his long service as clerk, he was elected secretary of the commonwealth, and he served as such with marked ability until the fall of the Confederacy. For several years after the war he lived in Gloucester county. After the reestablishment of civil government, he was appointed clerk of the committee of the house of delegates for courts of justice, and his services in that capacity were eminently valuable. Subse- quently he occupied a position in the office of the first auditor of the United States treasury, and more recently a place in the


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