The Litchfield County post., 1827-10-25

Of prisDngr; she died soon after, IRON the
m Treatment sh, experienced. lie was ruined
by the part be IOOk on the American side !;
did IL the Goth year of his age.
John Penn, Of South Carolina; uneduca-
Gated in early life became lawyer, and en-
inent by opsimathy.
James Wilson, Of Pennsylvania lawyer,
Of rare CAPACITY, aud of surprising faculties as
a speaker and writer; an efficient political es-
sayist the principal advocate of the constItII-
ton, of 1897, in the Pennsylvania convention !;
professor of law /; one of the judges of the SUI
prene court Of the United States. His hiOg-
raphy is repIete with valuable information and
political anecdOte.
Carter Braxton, OF Virginia; a planter {;
became a merchant; lost all and died of a
broken heart.
John Morton, of Pennsylvania; surveyor;
speaker of the general assembly of Pennsy-
vania a Judge of the supreme court of the
commonwealth; gave the casting vote of the
Pennsylvania delegation for the Declaration
of Independence; he was originally plough
boy.
Stephen Hopkins, of Rhode Island plain
farmer and surveyor; became speaker of The
assembly; chief justice, then governor of
Rhode Island man of superior sense, and
a good and successful writer; distinguished
mathematician and natural philosopher, tho
his education was slight, and a member ofthe
American Philosophical Society. His sigma
ture of the Declaration is the only crooked
and enfeebled one. AS it indicates" says
his biographer, "a very tremulons hand, in
perfect contrast with the bold and prominent
writing of President Hancock, it may have
engendered surmises. unfayorable to the de-
termined spirit of Mr.. Hopkins. We there
fore state that for number of years previous
he had been afflicted with nervous affec-
ton, and when he wrote at all, which was
seldom, he was compelled to guide his right
hand with his left"
Thomas M'Kean, of Pennsylvania law
yer of great abilities and ardent Revolutionary
patriotism; chief justice of the common
wealth governor; died 8S years old. His
biography is entirely authentic, and replete
with instructive details.
James Smith, of Pennsylvania; lawyer
and surveyor, remarkable for Righteousness
and eccentrcity; practised law for upwards
of sixty years died nonegenarian. His ar
ticle IS very pleasant.
Thomas Nelson, of Virginia; educated in
England; an opulent planter: active military
officer; commanderin-chiefo of the Virginia
militia, whom he bravely and skilfully headed
ut the siege of Yorktown; governor of Vir-
ginia; died in reduced circumstances, having
made enormous pecuniary sacrifices to the
revolutionary cause.
Joseph Halves, of North Carolina a sue
cessful merchant bred q Quaker; died when
attending congress, 1873.
George Taylor, of Pennsylvania; on arri
wing in America from Ireland, bound himself
for term of years as a common labourer, at
the iron works at Durham, on the Delaware,
near Easton; was made clerk of the works !;
the proprietor dying he spoused his widow
and finally became himself owner of the
whole amassed a large fortune; got into the
provincial assembly, member of business
Nothing more is recollected Of him in the vi
entity Of his residence, than that "he was a
fine man and a furious whig."
John Hart, of New Jersey farmer, sur
named 'honest John ;" had never held pub
lie Office when he was chosen to Congress -
his farm pillaged and destroyed by the Hes
slams his biography possesses peculiar in
terest, as very edifying illustration of the
character and the course of an American
yeOman.
Lewis Morris, of New York; a gentleman
farmer and large land proprietor; his whole
domain laid waste and ruined by the enemy
had three gallant sons in the field; the Gel
ebrated Gouverneur Morris was his half broth
er.
William Ellery, of Rhode Island well
educated lawyer; an early revolutionary pat
riot; very useful member of congress thro
out the war. "He often," says his biogra-
pher, "spoke of the signing Of the Declare
ton of Independence, and he spoke of it as
an event which many regarded with awe,per-
haps with uncertainty, but none with fear
He used to relate that he placed himself be-
side the Secretary, Charles Thompson, and
eyed each delegate closely as he affixed his
name to the document, and he saw dauntless
resolution in every countenance. Ellery died,
without pain, at the age of ninety-three, sit
ting upright in bed, and reading TuIly's Off
ces in the Latin.
"Of no distemper, ofno blast he died,
But fell like autumn fruit that mellow d long;
Even wondered ut because he falls sooner
Fate seemed to wind him up for fourscore years
Yet freshly ran he on twelve winters more;
Till, like clock worn out with eating time,
The wheels of weary life at last stood still.''
Lyman Hall, of Georgia; an emigrant from
Connecticut; we'll trained physician and
useful member of Congress; made great
sacrifices; elected governor of Georgia in
1888.
Oliver Wolcott, of Connecticut "a graduate
of Yale College; captain in the army before
the revolution; studied medicine; 4 major
general of militia; aided in the conquering of
Burgoyne judge; finally governor of Con-
necticut.