62
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
ablest judge of the courts. He belonged to
what was called the Republican party, and
he was much engaged in the controversies
of the day, and frequently wrote for the
newspapers. He strongly defended the
rights of his court against the decisions of
Judge Marshall, in the United States Su-
preme Court, and Mr. Jefferson wished him,
at the expiration of Mr. Monroe's term, to
be run as \'ice-President under Mr. Craw-
ford, with a view that he might succeed him
later as President. He was twice one of
the persons appointed to revise the laws of
the state, and several times one of the col-
lege of electors of President and \'ice-Presi-
dcnt of the United States, and was one of
the commissioners for locating the Univer-
sity of Virginia. He married Anne Henry,
daughter of Patrick Henry, September 7.
1787. and was father of William H. Roane.
United States senator. He died at the age
of sixty, September 4, 1822.
Tucker, St George (q. v.).
Pleasants, James (q. v.), qualified as judge of the Supreme Court. January 30. 181 1. but soon resigned.
Brooke, Francis T., president, was born at **Smithfield." Spotsylvania county, four miles below Fredericksburg, on the Rappa- hannock river. August 27, 1763, son of Rich- ard Brooke and Ann Hay Taliaferro, his wife, daughter of Francis Taliaferro, of '•Epsom," in the same county. His brother was Robert Brooke, governor of Virginia; • his grandfather was Robert Brooke, a noted surveyor, who was one of Spotswood's "Horseshoe Knights." and his great-grand- father was Robert Brooke, a justice of Essex county about 1700. He was well trained by private tutors, and served in the revolution as a lieutenant in 1780, in Harri-
son's artillery. Continental line; his twin
brother John also received a similar appoint-
ment in the same regiment. He served
under Lafayette in 1781, commanded a com-
pany in Colonel Febiger's regiment, and
joined General Greene at Charleston, South
Carolina, serving with him till the close of
the war. After studying medicine a year
with his brother Lawrence, he turned his
attention to the law; was admitted to the
bar in 1788, and practiced in Monongahela
and Harrison counties. He was made com-
monwealth's attorney in the district court
and practiced in Essex county and in the
Northern Neck ; elected to the house of dele-
gates in 1794; removed two years after to
P'redericksburg, \'irginia; was elected to
tlie state senate in 1800, and soon after be-
came speaker. In 1804 he was elected a
jifdge of the court of appeals, of which he
was president eight years, from 1823 to
1 83 1. He was again elected judge in 1831
and held the office until his death. Judge
Brooke was an intimate friend of General
Washington, to whose niece, Mary Ran-
dolph Spotswood. he was married in 1791.
Their son, Francis T. (1802-37), was gradu-
ated at the United States Military Acad-
emy in 1826, and was killed at the battle
of Okeechobee, December 25, 1837. Judge
Brooke's second wife was Mary C. Carter.
He died at Fredericksburg. March 3, 185 1.
Coalter, John, son of Michael Coalter and •Elizabeth Moore, his wife, daughter of James Moore, was born in Rockbridge county, August 20, 1771 ; was a tutor in the family of Judge St. George Tucker, in Wil- liamsburg, and studied law in William and Mary College, taking a course in 1789 under Chancellor Wythe and Bishop Madison, president of that institution. He settled
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