History of Smyrna, (Kent County) Delaware United States of America

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Biographies:

George David Cummins, assistant bishop of Kentucky and 81st in succession in the American episcopate, was born near Smyrna, Kent county, Del., Dec. 11, 1822. He was graduated at Dickinson college in 184l and in 1842 became a preacher in the Methodist Episcopal church. He then studied theology in the P.E. seminary and was admitted to the diaconate of the Protestant Episcopal church in 1845 and ordained a priest in 1847. He was rector of Christ church, Norfolk, Va.; St. James, Richmond, Va.; Trinity, Washington, D.C.; St. Peter's, Baltimore, Md., and Trinity, Chicago. Ill. He was elected assistant to Bishop Smith of Kentucky and was consecrated Nov. 15, 1866. He was deposed from his office as priest and bishop, June 24, 1874, having resigned in 1878 on founding what became known as the "Cummins schism." He presided at the organization of the Reformed Episcopal church, of which he was elected the first bishop in 1873. The College of New Jersey conferred upon him the degree of S.T.D. in 1857. He published: Sketch of the Life of Rev. William M Jackson (1856); Life of Mrs. Virginia Hale Hoffman, late of the P. E. Mission to Western Africa (1859); and pamphlets pertaining to the foundation of the Reformed Episcopal church. See his Life (1878) by his wife. He died in Lutherville, Baltimore county, Md., June 26, 1876.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Louis McLane, cabinet officer, was born in Smyrna, Del., May 28, 1786; son of Allan McLane (1746-1829), a soldier in the American army, 1775-83, and collector of the port of Wilmington, Del., 1808-29. Louis was warranted a midshipman in the U.S. navy in 1798, and served under Com. Stephen Decatur on the frigate Philadelphia, 1798-99. He left the navy in 1801 in accordance with the wishes of his mother and was graduated from Newark college, Delaware; studied law in the office of James A. Bayard; was admitted to the bar in 1807 and practised in Smyrna, Del. He was married in 1819 to Catharine Mary, daughter of Robert and Sally (Jones) Milligan. During the war of 1812 He was engaged on the fortifications of the town and joined Caesar A. Rodney's company of volunteers, organized for the defence of Baltimore, in 1814. He was a Democratic representative in the 15th-19th congresses, 1817-27. He was opposed to the admission of slavery into the newly admitted state of Missouri, and although instructed by the legislature of his state to vote in favor of the measure, he cast his ballot against it. He was U.S. senator from Delaware, 1827-29, and resigned in 1899 on being appointed U.S. minister to the court of St. James, England. In 1831 he was recalled, leaving the office with Washington Irving, charg? d'affaires, and was appointed secretary of the treasury in Jackson's cabinet, holding office until May, 1833, when in consequence of having refused in his official capacity to permit the removal of the government deposits from the U.S. bank, he was transferred to the department of state. He retired from the cabinet in 1834 and removed to his estate in Cecil county, Md. He was president of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, 1837-47; was appointed U.S. minister to England by President Polk in 1845 and remained abroad until the settlement of the Oregon boundary negotiations in 1846 when he resigned and was succeeded by George Bancroft. After serving as a delegate to the Maryland constitutional convention, 1850-51, He retired from public life. He died in Baltimore, Md., Oct. 7, 1857.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

John Bassett Moore, lawyer, diplomat and publicist, was born in Smyrna, Del., Dec. 3, 1860; son of Dr. John A. and Martha A. (Ferguson) Moore; grandson of Thomas J. and Mary (Johnson) Moore, and of Bassett and Susan (Weldon) Ferguson. He attended private schools at Felton, Del., and in 1787 entered the University of Virginia, where he gave special attention to the classics, history, literature, moral philosophy and logic. In 1880 he began the study of law with Edward G. Bradford of Wilmington, Del., and he was admitted to the bar in 1883. In July, 1885, after a competitive examination, he entered the civil service in the department of state, Washington, D.C., and in August, 1886, he was promoted to the position of third assistant secretary of state. He acted as secretary on the American side in the fisheries conference at Washington, 1887-88, and was also secretary of the conference between the secretary of state and the German and British ministers, in June and July, 1887, relative to affairs in Samoa, and prepared all the protocols of the conference. In 1891 he resigned from the state department to accept the chair of international law and diplomacy at Columbia university. In April, 1898, on the outbreak of the war with Spain, he was appointed by President McKinley assistant secretary of state, which position he resigned, Sept. 16, 1898, to accept the position of secretary and counsel to the peace commission, which concluded at Paris, Dec. 10, 1898, the treaty of peace with Spain. He resumed his duties at Columbia university in February, 1899. In the summer of 1901 he held a series of conferences on international law at the Naval War college, Newport, R.I. He was elected to membership in various scientific societies, including the Institut Colonial International, the American Historical Association, and the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and an associate of the Institut de Droit International. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Columbia university, in 1899, from Delaware college, Newark, Del., in 1900 from Yale university, in October, 1901. His published works embrace: Report on Extraterritorial Crime and the Cutting Case (1887); Report on Extradition, with returns of Cases (1890); A Treatise on Extradition and Interstate Rendition (2 vols., 1891); American Notes on the Conflict of Laws, accompanying Dicey's Conflict of Laws (1896); A History and Digest of International Arbritrations (6 vols., 1898); International Law Situations, with Solutions and Notes (1901). His miscellaneous writings include numerous papers and addresses on legal and historical subjects and his writings as one of the editors of the Political Science Quarterly, of the Revue de Droit International, and of the Journal du Droit International Priv

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Jacob Jones, naval officer, was born near Smyrna, Del., in March, 1768. His father, a farmer, died in 1772, and he was brought up by a stepmother and was educated at Lewis academy. He studied medicine under Dr. Sykes at Dover, 1786-90, and attended a course of lectures at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. He practised at Dover, but disliking the profession, he obtained, through the influence of Governor Clayton, the position of clerk of the supreme court for Kent county, serving 1792-99. On April 10, 1799, although thirty-one years of age, he obtained a warrant as midshipman in the U.S. navy and made his first voyage on board the United States, Capt. John Barry, when that vessel carried Chief-Justice Ellsworth and General Davie to France. He served on the Ganges and subsequently on the Philadelphia under Captain Bainbridge. When the Philadelphia was captured by the Tripolitans, he was imprisoned for nineteen months. Upon his return to the United States he was promoted lieutenant, and after serving on the New Orleans station, he was given command of the Argus. On April 20, 1810, he was made commander and was transferred to the Wasp, and sent to Europe with official despatches. When war was declared between England and the United States in 1812, he returned home, and after refitting the Wasp, put out to sea. On Oct. 13, 1812, he fell in with the British sloop-of-war Frolic, under Captain Whingates, which was acting as envoy to a fleet of well-armed merchantmen bound from Honduras to England, and the merchantmen under press of sail escaped, leaving the Wasp and Frolic in action. The vessels got into close quarters and the engagement continued without intermission. The sea was very rough and the gunners on the Wasp reserved their fire until the side of their ship was descending, thus bringing the effect of the shot below the deck of the Frolic. The English, however, fired their broadside as the ship was rising, and soon stripped the Wasp of all her spars and rigging, leaving her masts unsupported. To prevent the escape of the Frolic, Commander Jones ran down upon her and fired a raking broadside, at the same time giving the order to board. The effect of the last broadside had been such that, when the men from the Wasp gained the deck of the Frolic, they found but one seaman at the wheel and three officers on deck, who immediately threw down their swords. The Frolic was put under the command of Lieutenant James Biddle, with orders to proceed to any convenient southern port of the United States. Just as the vessels parted, the British frigate Poictiers appeared and carried both the Wasp and the Frolic to Bermuda, where the American officers and crew were released on parole. Upon his return to the United States, Commander Jones was received with great enthusiasm. He was waited upon by a committee appointed by the legislature of Delaware and was voted an elegant piece of plate with appropriate engraving. Congress voted $25,000 to compensate the officers and crew for the loss sustained by the re-capture of the Frolic, and ordered a gold medal to be presented to Jones and a silver medal to each of his officers. The several states passed congratulatory resolutions and made to the officers valuable gifts of swords and plate, and Jones was made an honorary member of the Society of the Cincinnati. He was commissioned captain, March 13, 1813, and was given command of the Macedonian, in Decatur's squadron, operating in the Mediterranean. He was in command of the Mediterranean squadron, 1821-24, and of the Pacific squadron, 1826-29. He was appointed to the command of the Baltimore station; served as port captain of the harbor of New York; was commissary of the U.S. naval board, and governor of the Philadelphia naval asylum. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., Aug. 3, 1850.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor