History of Amherst County Virginia United States of America

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Biographies:

Peter Cartwright, clergyman, was born in Amherst county, Va., Sept. 1, 1785. About 1790 his father, who was a soldier in the revolutionary army, moved to Logan county, Ky., then a wild and unsettled region. He received a meagre education, was converted at the age of sixteen, and became a local preacher. In 1803 he became a regular preacher, and was ordained an elder in 1806 by Bishop Asbury. In 1823 he moved to Illinois, where he settled in Sangamon county, being twice elected to represent that district in the state legislature. He was a delegate at all the conferences for many years. He was a Democrat in politics and opposed slavery. In 1846 he was a Democratic candidate for representative in Congress, but was defeated by Abraham Lincoln. He was for fifty years a presiding elder of the Methodist church, his quaint and forcible style of preaching was suited to the times and to the people among whom he labored, and he was both feared and beloved. He published several pamphlets, of which his Controversy with the Devil (1853), and an Autobiography of Rev. Peter Cartwright were the most notable. He died near Pleasant Plains, Sangamon county, Ill., Sept. 25, 1872.

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

William Harris Crawford, statesman, was born in Amherst county, Va., Feb. 24, 1772. He was taken by his parents to Edgefield district, S.C., in 1779, and to Columbia county, Ga., in 1783. He received a fair education under the tuition of Dr. Moses Waddell, in whose classical school he also taught, and he was a tutor in Richmond academy, Augusta, Ga., for two years, at the same time studying law. He was admitted to the bar in 1799 and located in Lexington, Ga., where he shortly afterward prepared the first digest of the laws of Georgia. He served in the state senate, 1803-06, and was elected to the U.S. senate in 1807, to succeed Senator George Jones, and filled out the unexpired term of Senator Baldwin. He was re-elected for a full term in 1811. On March 24, 1812, he was elected president pro tempore of the senate. He favored the United States bank, and tim war with Great Britain. In 1813 President Madison offered him the portfolio of war, which he declined. Tbe President then sent him as U.S. minister to France where he enjoyed the personal friendship of Lafayette. In 1815 he returned to America and was appointed secretary of war, succeeding James Monroe, and in 1816 on the retirement of Secretary Dallas from the cabinet as secretary of the treasury, President Madison appointed Mr. Crawford to the vacancy. On the accession of James Monroe to the presidency Mr. Crawford's services in the treasury department were retained and he held the position during the two administrations of Monroe. In 1824 he was a candidate for the presidency as an exponent of the policy of Jefferson. His pronounced views as a strict constructionist divided the Republican party and engendered the opposition of Mr. Calhoun, who was the vice-presidential candidate. Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay, all Republicans, were also presidential candidates. Mr. Crawford had received the nomination of a congressional caucus in February, 1824. The electors chosen in November, gave Andrew Jackson, 99 votes; John Quincy Adams, 84; Henry Clay, 37, and William H. Crawford, 41 for President, and John C. Calhoun, 182 for vice-president. There being no choice for President the election was thrown in the house of representatives, where through the machinations of New York politicians, together with the influence of Henry Clay, who was not a candidate before the house, John Quincy Adams secured the election. After his retirement Mr. Crawford wrote a letter from Georgia, in which he stated that Calhoun, when serving as secretary of war in Monroe's cabinet, in 1817, had proposed that General Jacksen's conduct of the Florida war be investigated. This letter fell into the hands of Senator Van Buren, who showed it to Jackson and thus defeated the hopes of Calhoun who was ambitious to become Jackson's successor. Van Buren became President and earned the sobriquet of "tbe old fox," but in 1844 Calhoun seized his opportunity and repaid Van Buren for his perfidy. Mr. Crawford on his return to Georgia served as circuit judge, 1827-34. His course as secretary of the treasury was criticised by his political opponents and was made the subject of congressional investigation, but the committee, which included Daniel Webster and John Randolph, unaninmusly declared the charge unfounded. He was married to Miss Gardine. Mr. Crawford fought two duels, in one of which he killed his opponent and in the other he was himself wounded. The University of Georgia gave him the degree of LL.D. in 1824. He died in Elbert county, Ga., while on his circuit, Sept. 15, 1834.

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

History of Amherst County Virginia

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