mm m CO UBS'!-- i TO u With fine Portraits WM ^ r W OR C E ST E R : ON A T H A N G ROUT, HENRY J. HO W LAND, PRINTFR. h % m !..-• §53 t r ass OF Revolutionary Worthie WITH FINE PORTRAITS. WORCESTER: JONATHAN GROUT, J r, HENRY J. ROWLAND, PRINTER. GEORGE WASHINGTON. Re¥olutionary Worthies, 5^ GEORGE WASHINGTON, The founder of American Independence, and first President of the United States, was born in 1732, in the county of Fair- fax, in Virginia. He was descended from an English family, which emigrated from Cheshire, about 1630 ; and his father, in the place of his nativity, was possessed of great landed property. He received his education from a private tutor j and was particularly instructed in mathematics and engineering. His abilities were first em- ployed by Dinwiddie, in 1753, in making remonstrances to the French commander on the Ohio, for the infraction of the treaty between the two nations ; and he after- wards negotiated with the Indians on the 6 REVOLUTIONARY WORTHIES. back settlements, for which he received the thanks of the British government. In the expedition of Braddock he served as aid-de-camp ; and, on the fall of that brave bnt rash commander, he displayed great talent in conducting the retreat, and saving the army from a dangerous position. in 1758, he was sent on an expedition against fort Dn duesne, the lurking place and strong hold of the hostile Indians, who were constantly harrassing and murdering the inhabitants on the frontier; but on reaching tho post, it was found deserted. A treaty of peace was soon after formed with the Indians. The name of the fort was changed to Fort Pitt, and it was gar- risoned with two hundred soldiers, and be- came a source of as much advantage to the English settlements, as it had before been of damage. Our frontispiece repre- sents the remains of this fort as it appear- ed in 1831. 8 REVOLUTIONARY WORTHIES, The great object of his wishes having been thus happily accomplished, Washing- ton lesigned his commission, and thus end- ed his career as a provincial officer. Soon after this resignation, he married Mrs. Martha Custis, a young and beautiful lady, of great accomplishments, and an amiable character. Retiring to the estate at Mount Vernon, which he had acquired a few years before by the death of his elder brother, he devoted himself assiduously to the busi- ness of agriculture. He became one of the greatest landholders in North America. His Mount Vernon estate alone consisted of nine thousand acres, and his domestic and farming establishments were compos- ed of nearly a thousand persons. He was elected a representative to the first Congress, which met at Philadelphia, in 1774, and was the active member of all the committees on military affairs. When REVOLUTIONARY WORTHIES. 9 the commencement of hostilities made it necessary to appoint a commander-in-chief of the American forces, George Washing- ton was unanimously elected to the office. The record of his services is the history of the whole war. He joined the army at Cambridge in July. 1775. On the evacua- tion of Boston, in March, 1776, he pro- ceeded to New York. The battle of Long Island was fought on the 27th of August, and the battle of White plains on the 28th of October. On the 25th of December, he crossed the Delaware, and soon gained the victories at Trenton and Princeton. The battle of Brandy wine was fought on Sep- tember 11th, 1777; of Germantown, Octo- ber 4th ; of Monmouth, February 28th, 1778. In 1779 and 1780, he continned in the vicinity of New York, and closed the important military operations of the war by the capture of Cornwallis, at York- town, in 1781. 1* 30 REVOLUTIONARY WORTHIES. On the disbanding of the army, Wash- ington proceeded to Annapolis, then the seat of Congress, to resign his commission. On his way thither, he delivered to the comptroller of accounts, at Philadelphia, an account of his receipts and expenditures of public money. The whole amount that had passed through his hands, was only £14,479 18s. 9d. sterling. Nothing was charged or retained for his own services. The resignation of his command was made in. a public audience. Congress received him as the guardian of his country and net liberties. He appeared there under the most affecting circumstances. The bat- tles of a glorious war had been fought since he first appeared before them to ac- cept, with a becoming modesty, the com- mand of their armies. Now the eves of a whole nation were upon him, and the voi- ces of a liberated people proclaimed him their preserver. REVOLUTIONARY WORTHIES. 11 His high character and services natural- ly entitled him to the highest gifts his country could bestow ; and, on the organi- zation of the government, he was called upon to be the first president of the states which he had preserved and established. It was a period of great difficulty and dan- ger. The unsubdued spirit of liberty had been roused and kindled by the revolution • of France, and many of his fellow citizens were eager that the freedom and equality which they themselves enjoyed should be extended to the subjects of the French monarch. Washington anticipated the . plans of the factious, and by prudence and firmness subdued insurrection, and silenc- ed discontent, till the parties which the in- trigues of Genet, the French envoy, had roused to rebellion, were convinced of tire wildness of their measures, and of the wis- dom of their governor. 12 REVOLUTIONARY WORTHIES. The president completed, in 1796, the business of his office, by signing a com- mercial treaty with Great Britain, and then voluntarily resigned his power at a mo- ment when all hands and all hearts were united again to confer upon him the sov- ereignty of the country, Restored to the peaceful retirement of Mount Vernon, he devoted himself to the pursuits of agricul- ture ; and though he accepted the com- mand of the army in 1798, it was merely to unite the affections of his fellow-citi- zens to the general good, and was one more sacrifice to his high sense of duty. He died, after a short illness, on the 14th of December, 1799, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Benjamin Franklin, the statesman and philosopher, was born in Boston, on the 14 REVOLUTIONARY WORTHIES. 17th of January, 1706. His father emi- grated from England, and had recourse for a livelihood to the business of a chandler and soap-boiler. His mother was a native of Boston, and belonged to a respectable family of the name of Folger. Young Franklin was placed at a gram- mar school, at an early age, but, at the ex- piration of a year, was taken home to assist his father in his business. In this occupa- tion he continued two years, when he be- came heartily tired of cutting wicks for candles, filling moulds, and running er- rands. He resolved to embark on a sea- faring life ; but his parents objected, hav- ing already lost a son at sea, Having a passionate fondness for books, he was final- ly apprenticed as a printer to his brother, who at that time published a newspaper in Boston. It was while he was in this situ- ation, that he began to try his powers of REVOLUTIONARY WORTHIES. 15 literary composition. Street ballads and articles in a newspaper were his first ef- forts. Many of his essays, which were in- serted anonymously ; were highly com- mended by people of taste. Dissatisfied with the manner in which he was treated by his relative, he, at the age of seventeen, privately quitted him, and went to Phila- delphia. The day following his arrival, he wandered through the streets of that city with an appearance little short of a beggar. His pockets were distended by his clothes, which were crowded inl ) them; and, provided with a roll of bread under each arm, he proceeded through the prin- cipal streets of the city. His ludicrous appearance attracted the notice o* several of the citizens, and, among others, of Miss Reed, the lady whom he after-wan marri- ed. He soon obtained employment as a printer, and was exemplary in the dis- charge of his duties. 16 REVOLUTIONARY WORTHIES. In 1726. he entered into business as a printer and stationer, and, in 1728, estab- lished a newspaper. In 1730, he married the lady to whom he was previously en- gaged. In 1732, he began to publish " Poor Richard's Almanac," a work which was continued for twenty-five years, and which, besides answering the purposes of a calendar, contained many excellent pru- dential maxims, which rendered it very useful and popular. The political career of Franklin com- menced in 1736, when he was appointed clerk to the General Assembly of Pennsyl- vania. His next office was the valuable one of postmaster ; and he was subsequent- ly chosen as a representative. He assist- ed in the establishment of the American Philosophical Society, and of a college, which now exists under the title of the University of Pennsylvania. He was cho- REVOLUTIONARY WORTHIES. 17 sen a member of the Provincial Assembly, to which body he was annually re-elected for ten years. Philosophy now began to attract his attention, and, in 1749, he made those enquiries into the nature of electrici- ty, the results of which, placed him high among the men of science of the age. In 1753, Dr. Franklin was appointed deputy postmaster-general of British Amer- ica. In this station, he rendered important services to General Braddock, in his expe- dition against Port Du Q.uense, and march- ed at the head of a company of volunteers to the protection of the frontier. He visit- ed England, in 1757, as agent for the State of Philadelphia ; and was also en- trusted by the other colonies with impor- tant business. In 1762, he returned to America, and in 1764, was again appointed the agent of Philadelphia, to manage her concerns in 18 REVOLUTIONARY WORTHIES. England, in which country he arrived in the month of December. About this pe- riod the stamp act was exciting violent commotions in America. To this measure, Dr. Franklin was strongly opposed, and he presented a petition against it, which, at his suggestion, had been drawn up by the Pennsylvania Assembly. Among others, he was summoned before the House of Commons, where he underwent a long ex- amination. His answers were fearless and decisive, and to his representations the re- peal of the act was, no doubt, in a great measure, attributable. In the years 1766- 67, he made an excursion to Holland, Ger- many, and France, where he met with a most flattering reception. He was chosen a member of the French Academy of Sciences, and received diplomas from many other learned societies. Despairing of restoring harmony be- REVOLUTIONARY WORTHIES. 19 tween the colonies and mother country, Doctor Franklin embarked for America, where he arrived in 1776. He was re- ceived with every mark of esteem and ad- miration. He was immediately elected a delegate to the General Congress, and sign- ed the Declaration of Independence. In 1777, he was deputed with others to pro- ceed to Canada, to persuade the people of that province to throw off the British yoke; but the inhabitants of Canada had been so much disgusted with the zeal of the peo- ple of New England, who had burnt some of their chapels, that they refused to listen to the proposals made to them by Franklin and his associates. In 1778, he was de- spatched by Congress, as ambassador to France. The treaty of alliance with the French government, and the treaties of peace, in 1782 and 1783, as well as trea- ties with Sweden and Prussia, were signed 20 REVOLUTIONARY WORTHIES. by him. On his reaching Philadelphia, in September, 1785, his arrival was hailed by applauding thousands of his countrymen, who conducted him in triumph to his resi- dence. This was a period of which he al- ways spoke with peculiar pleasure. In 1788, he withdrew from public life, and on the 17th of April, 1790, he expired in the city of Philadelphia, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. ROGER SHERMAN. Roger. Sherman was born in Newton, Massachusetts, on the 19th of April, 1721. He was early apprenticed to a shoemaker, and followed the business of one for some time after he was twenty-two years of age. The father of Roger Sherman died in 1741, leaving his family, which was quite nu- merous, dependent upon his son for sup- 22 REVOLUTIONARY WORTHIES. port. He entered upon the task with great cheerfulness. Towards his mother, whose life was protracted to a great age, he al- ways manifested the tenderest affection, and assisted two of his younger brothers to qualify themselves for clergymen. In 1749, he was married to Miss Eliza- beth Hartwell, of Stoughton, in Massachu- setts. After her decease, in 1760, he mar- ried Miss Rebecca Prescott, of Danvers, in the same State. By these wives he had fifteen children. In 1759, he was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the county of Litchfield, Conn., which office he held for two years. In 1766, Mr Sherman was elected a member of the Upper House, in the Gen- eral Assembly of Connecticut ; and during the same year he was appointed a Judge of the Superior Court. He continued a REVOLUTIONARY WORTHIES. S3 member of the Upper House for nineteen years, until 1785, when, the two offices which he held being considered incompati- ble, he relinquished his seat at the council- board, preferring his station as a Judge. Mr Sherman was a delegate to the cele- brated Congress of 1774, and continued uninterruptedly a member of that body, until his death in 1793. His services dur- ing his congressional career were many and important. He was employed on nu- merous committees, and was indefatigable in the investigation of complicated and dif- ficult subjects, Under the new Constitution, Mr. Sher- man was elected a representative to Con- gress from the State of Connecticut. At the expiration of two years, a vacancy oc- curring in the Senate, he was elevated to a seat in that body. In this office he died on the 23d of July, 1793, in the seventy- third year of his age. 24 REVOLUTIONARY WORTHIES. A predominant trait in the character of Roger Sherman was his practical wisdom. Although inferior to many in rapidity of genius, he was surpassed by none in clear- ness of apprehension, energy of mind, or honesty of action. A remark of Jefferson bears testimony to the strength and sound- ness of his intellect. " That is Sherman," said he to a friend, to whom he was point- ing out the most remarkable men of Con- gress, " a man who never said a foolish thing in his life." Not less honorable to the integrity of his character, is the remark of Fisher Ames, who was wont to say : " If I am absent during the discussion of a sub- ject, and consequently know not on which side to vote, I always look at Roger Sher- man, for I am sure if I vote with him I shall vote right."