Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/109

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
ARCE
ARCHIBALD
87

party, seize upon the horses, and begin hostilities against the Californian government. From this Arce-affair of 6 June dates the beginning of the “Bear Flag” revolt and of the seizure of California by the Americans.


ARCE, Manuel, Mexican priest, b. in Aguascalientes, 5 April, 1725; d. in Bologna, Italy, 28 June, 1785. He was a Jesuit, was distinguished for his learning, and was in succession rector of the colleges belonging to his order in Puebla, Zacatecas, and Guadalajara, and then took charge of the Jesuit missions among the Chichimecan Indians. When Charles III. of Spain expelled the Jesuits from his dominions, 25 June, 1767, Father Arce went to Bologna, Italy, and, with funds furnished mostly by other Jesuits belonging to rich Mexican families, he founded a benevolent institution for the old and needy, called the Hospital for Septuagenarians. There he personally attended to everything concerning the care of the inmates, even to cleaning their rooms and cooking their food, until his death.


ARCHBOLD, George, chemist, b. in Ford Flodden Field, Scotland, 4 May, 1848. He studied chemistry in Berwick-on-Tweed, Edinburgh, London, and Bei-lin, and has published many papers on chemical subjects. He came to the United States in 1881, and has since devoted his attention principally to the manufacture of starch, in which he has made important investigations. Dr. Archbold is a member of numerous scientific societies.


ARCHDALE, John, English governor of North Carolina. He was a son of Thomas Archdale of Loaks, in Chipping Wycomb, Bucks co., England, and came to New England in 1664 as agent of his brother-in-law, Gov. Gorges of Maine. He visited North Carolina in March, 1686, and was commissioner for Gorges in Maine in 1687-88. He became governor of North Carolina in 1695, and held the office for about two years. He was sagacious, prudent, and moderate, and under his administration the province made great progress in internal improvements. He introduced rice culture into Carolina by distributing among some friends a bag of seed rice brought by the captain of a vessel from Madagascar. Archdale was formerly a member of the society of Friends, and, while enforcing a militia law, exempted all Friends from service. By his moderation he quieted the troubles between the colonists and their feudal sovereigns, and, by establishing a special board for deciding contests between white men and Indians, he won the friendship of the latter. His conscientious scruples concerning the required oaths prevented his taking a seat in parliament, to which he was elected in 1698. Archdale published "A New Description of the Fertile and Pleasant Province of Carolina, with a Brief Account of its Discovery, Settling, and Government up to this Time, with several Remarkable Passages during My Time" (London, 1707). See He watt's "Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia" (London, 1779); Holmes's "Annals of America" (Cambridge, 1829) ; and Bancroft's "History of the United States " (New York, 1884).


ARCHER, Branch T., Texan revolutionist, b. in Virginia in 1790; d. in Brazoria co.. Texas, 22 Sept., 1856. He studied medicine in Philadelphia, and was for many years a physician and politician in his native state, being a member of the legislature several times. In 1831 he removed to Texas, and became a prominent actor in the movements preliminary to the revolution. On 3 Nov., 1835, he presided over the famous "consultation" held by the American settlers, and with Col. Stephen Austin and N. H. Wharton formed a board of three commissioners to solicit aid from the United States in the struggle for Texan independence. He was a member of the first Texan congress in 1836, became speaker of the house of representatives, and was secretary of war of Texas from 1839 to 1842, when by reason of declining health he was compelled to retire to private lite.


ARCHER, John, physician, b. in Harford co., Md., 6 June, 1741 : d. there in 1810. He was graduated at Princeton in 1760, and studied theology, but relinquished this on account of a throat trouble, and, after studying medicine, received in 1768, from the Philadelphia medical college, the first medical diploma issued on this continent. He raised and commanded a military company at the beginning of the revolution, was for several years a member of the legislature, and was chosen presidential elector in 1801. From 1801 to 1807 he was a member of congress from Maryland. He made several discoveries in medicine, which have been adopted by the profession.—His son, Stevenson, jurist, b. in Harford co., Md.; d. 5 June, 1848, was graduated at Princeton in 1805, and studied law. He became a judge of the court of appeals, and was appointed chief justice in 1845, holding the office until his death. He served in congress from 4 Nov., 1811, to 3 March, 1817, and from 6 Dec., 1819, to 3 March, 1821. During his last term he was a member of- the committee on foreign affairs. In the interval from 1817 to 1819 he was U. S. judge for the territory of Mississippi. In politics he was a democrat.


ARCHER, Samuel B., soldier, b. about 1790; d. in Philadelphia, 11 Dec, 1825. He was appointed to the army from Virginia, 12 March, 1812, as captain in "the 2d artillery, and, on 27 May, 1813, was brevetted major "for gallantry and good conduct in the cannonade and bombardment of Fort George, on 26 and 27 May, 1813." He was distinguished at Stony Creek, 6 June, 1813, and, on 10 Nov., 1821, became inspector-general, with the rank of colonel.


ARCHER, William Segar, b. in Amelia county, Va., 5 March, 1789; d. there, 28 March, 1855. His family was of Welsh origin, and his father and grandfather both served with honor in the revolution. The former, Maj. John Archer, was aide to Gen. Wayne, and acquitted himself with gallantry at the capture of Stony Point; the latter. Col. William Archer, died on a British prison-ship. William S. was graduated at William and Mary in 1806, and studied law. He served in the legislature, with the exception of one year, from 1812 to 1819. From 1820 till 1835 he was" a representative in congress, where, as chairman of the committee on foreign relations, and member of the committee on the Missouri compromise, he exerted great influence. From 1841 till 1847 he was a member of the U. S. senate, and in this body also was at the head of the committee on foreign relations.


ARCHIBALD, Sir Adams George, Canadian jurist, b. in Truro. N. S., 3 May. 1814; d. in Halifax, 14 Dec, 1892. He was the grandson of the late James Archibald, judge of the court of common pleas. N. S. He was educated at Pictou academy, and was called to the bar of Prince Edward island in 1838, and to that of Nova Scotia in 1839. He was a member of the executive council of Nova Scotia, first, as solicitor-general, from 14 Aug., 1856, until 14 Feb., 1857 ; secondly, as attorney-general, from 10 Feb., 1860, until 11 June, 1863. He was a delegate to England in 1857 to arrange terras of settlement with the British government and the general mining association in respect to Nova Sco-