PROMINENT PERSONS
293
Philosophical Society a few days befcjro his
I'cath. on March 28, 1863, at Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania.
Chambers, Henry, born in Lunenburg county, Virginia, about 1785. He gradu- ated at William and Mary College in i8c8, itudied medicine, and settled in Alabama, where he practiced until the war of 1812. when he served as surgeon on Gen. Jack- son's staff. Later he settled in Huntsville, and in 181 9 was a member of the consti- tutional convention of Alabama. He was elected United States senator, and served from December 5, 1825, until his death, at ihe residence of his brother, Judge Edward Chambers, of the superior court of Virginia, while on his way to Washington. He died in MecklenDurg county, Virginia, January 25. 1826.
Cartwright, Samuel Adolphus, born in Fairfax county, Virginia, November 30, ^793- He studied medicine at the L'niver-
- iity of Pennsylvania, and began practice in
Huntsville, Alabama, but removed to Nat- chez. Mississippi, where he labored for more than a quarter of a century, and ser\'ed at one time under Gen. Jackson as surgeon. He removed to New Orleans in 1848, and in 1862 was appointed to improve the sanitary condition of the Confederate soldiers near Port Hudson and Vicksburg, and while dis- charging this duty he contracted ^he disease that caused his death. He contributed largely to medical literature, and received several medals and prizes for his investiga- tions, especially those on yellow fever, chol- era infantum and Asiatic cholera. Some of the metho«!s of his treatment are now in u.se in the army and in hospitals. He died May 2, 1863, at Jackson, Mississippi.
Chalmers, Joseph W., born in Halifax
county. Virginia, in 1807. son of a wealthy
planter who came from Scotland, and was
related to Thomas Chalmers, the celebrated
divine. He was trained to mercantile pur-
suits, but after the death of his father, de-
termined to be a lawyer, and, after spend-
ing two years at the University of Virginia,
studied law in the olifice of Benjamin W.
i-eigh, in Richmond. In 1835 he removed
to Jackson, Tennessee, and in 1840 to Holly
Springs, Mississippi. In 1842-43 he was
vice-chancellor. In 1846 he was appointed
to the United States senate to fill vacancy
caused by the appointment of Senator Rob-
ert J. Walker to the head of the treasury
department, and was subsequently elected
for the remainder of the term, but at its
close he declined re-election and resumed
the practice of law, being succeeded by Jeff-
erson Davis. He served in the senate from
December 7, 1845, ^iH March 3, 1847. He
was a steadfast States Right Democrat, and
w.irmly supported Gen. Cass for president
in T848. and John A. Quitman and Jefferson
O.ivis in their contests with Henry S. Foote
in 185 1. He died at Holly Springs, Miss-
issippi, in June, 1853.
Robinson, Beverley, born in Virginia, in 1723; son of John Robinson, president of the council of Virginia in 1734, and speaker of the house of burgesses. He served under Wolfe a.s a major at the storming of Quebec in 1759, and became wealthy by his mar- riage with Susanna, daughter of Frederick Ph:liipse. of New York. He opposed the Eri<"ish measures that led to the revolu- tion, but joined the loyalists, went to New York, and raised the Loyal American rcf^iment, of which he was colonel, and also
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