Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/392

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BRECK
BRECKENRIDGE

the Chippewa Indians which has since assumed im- portance in the churcli. In 1858 he established at Faribault, Minn, (since the centre of church work in that diocese), its schools for both sexes and its divinity school. He next turned his attention to California, and in 1867 went there with the intention of founding similar institutions. At the head of an associate mission he landed in that state in May, and, locating at Benicia, founded Ht. Augustine's college and grammar school with a divinity school attached. This having been established and given over to a board of trustees, he next founded a school for young ladies, St. Mary's hall; but while in the midst of this successful work he died.


BRECK, Robert, clergyman, b. 25 July, 1713 ; d. in Springfield, Mass., 23 April, 1784. He was graduated at Harvard in 1730, and was minister of Springfield from 26 July, 1736, till his death. His learning was extensive, and his views on the doctrine of the atonement so liberal that a controversy arose over his settlement. A narrative relating to his ordination was published, followed by an "Answer to the Hampshire Narrative," and a "Letter to the Author of the Narrative." He published funeral sermons on the Rev. D. Parsons (1781) and the Rev. S. Williams (1782), and a century sermon on the burning of Springfield by the Indians, 16 Oct., 1675.—His father, the Rev. Robert Breck, who died 6 Jan., 1731, at the age of forty-eight, was minister of Marlborough, and was a man of great learning. Before his settlement in Marlborough, on 25 Oct., 1704, he preached on Long Island and asserted the rights of the non-conformists during the administration of Gov. Cornbury with such boldness as to provoke serious threats and ill-treatment.


BRECK, Samuel, merchant, b. in Boston, 17 July, 1771; d. in Philadelphia, 1 Sept., 1862. The family removed to Pennsylvania in 1792. He was educated at a military college in France, and after his return became a merchant in Philadelphia. He was a member of the Pennsylvania legislature for many years, and was elected as a federalist to the 18th congress, serving from 1 Dec, 1823, till 3 March, 1825. He published a historical sketch of continental paper-money in 1843, and several historical addresses. See "Memoir of Samuel Breck," by J. F. Fisher (Philadelphia, 1863).—His brother, Daniel, jurist, b. in Topsfield, Mass., 12 Feb., 1788: d. in 1871. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1812, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Richmond, Ky., in 1814. He became judge of the Richmond co. court, was a member of the Kentucky house of representatives in 1824-'9; president of the Richmond branch of the state bank, 1835-43; a judge of the supreme court of Kentucky, 1843-9; and was elected a representative from Kentucky in the 31st congress, serving from 3 Dec, 1849, till 3 March, 1851, after which he again became president of the Richmond bank.—Their father, the Rev. Daniel Breck (who died in Rutland, Vt., at the age of ninety-seven, in December, 1845), accompanied Porter's regiment to Canada as chaplain, and -was present at the attack on Quebec.


BRECK, Samuel, soldier, b. in Middleborough, Plymouth co.. Mass., 25 Feb., 1834. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1855, and served in the Florida war of 1855-'6, was assistant professor of geography, history, and ethics in the military academy in 1860-'l, and served in the civil war as assistant adjutant-general of Gen. McDowell's division in the beginning of 1862, and afterward of the 1st army corps, and of the department of the Rappahannock, being engaged in the occupation of Fredericksburg and the Shenandoah valley expedition, and from 2 July, 1862, till 5 June, 1870, was assistant in the adjutant-general's department at Washington, in charge of rolls, returns, and the preparation of the "Volunteer Army Register." He was brevetted brigadier-general, for faithful services, on 13 March, 1865. From 1870 till 1877 he was stationed in San Francisco, Cal., and from 24 Dec, 1877, served as assistant in the adjutant-general's office at Washington, and at departmental headquarters in California, New York, Minnesota, and Nebraska.


BRECKEN, Frederick de St. Croix, Canadian statesman, b. in Charlotte town. Prince Edward Island, 9 Dec, 1828. He was educated at the central academy in Charlottetown, was attorney-general and advocate-general. Prince Edward Island, from April, 1859, till January, 1863, and from September, 1870, till 1872 was a member of the executive council and attorney-general. He was reappointed in April, 1873, and held office until August, 1876. He was first elected to the legislature of Prince Edward Island, for the city of Charlottetown, in 1863, and was returned for the dominion parliament in 1878. He is a conservative.


BRECKENRIDGE, James, lawyer, b. near Fincastle, Botetourt co., Va., 7 March, 1763; d. in Fincastle, 9 Aug., 1846. He was a grandson of a Scottish covenanter, who escaped to America on the restoration of the Stuarts. James served, in 1781, in Col. Preston's rifle regiment under Greene, was graduated at William and Mary college in 1785, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1787, and began practice in Fincastle. He was for several years a member of the general assembly of Virginia, and a leader of the old federal party in that body, and from 22 May, 1809, till 3 March, 1817, represented the Botetourt district in congress. He was a candidate for governor against James Monroe. He co-operated with Thomas Jefferson in founding the university of Virginia, and was one of the most active promoters of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal. — His brother. John, statesman; b. in Augusta co., Va., 2 Dec, 1760; d. in Lexington, Ky., 14 Dec, 1806, while a student in the college of William and Mary, at the age of nineteen, he was elected a member of the house of delegates in 1780. The house set aside the election, as well as the next election, when he was again returned ; but after he was chosen a third time he took his seat. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1785, then removed to Albemarle co., and began practice in Charlottesville, where he became intimate with Jefferson, Monroe, and Madison. In December, 1793, he was elected to the 3d congress, but did not take his seat. The same year he removed to Kentucky, settled on the farm called Cabell's Dale, near Lexington, and opened a law-office in that city, devoting himself for many years to the adjustment of the conflicting land-titles in Kentucky, growing out of the careless methods of making surveys and land-grants pursued by Virginia. On 19 Dec, 1795, he was appointed attorney-general of the new state, and from 1797 till 1800 he was a member of the legislature, serving as speaker in his third and last term. In 1794 he was the democratic candidate for senator; but Humphrey Marshall was elected by a narrow federalist majoritv. In the summer of 1798, after the passage of the alien and sedition laws, he met Jefferson and Nicholas at Monticello, and there the famous Kentucky resolutions of 1798 were drafted by Breckenridge, as is asserted by his friends, although Jefferson claimed the authorship in a letter written in 1821. The reso-