Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/653

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CLAIBORNE
CLAIBORNE
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tinned until the beginning of the revolution, when he retired to his own estate in Prince George coun- ty. In 1779 he began services in St. Paul's parish, and the next year was chosen rector. Being a man of excellent fitness for the office, as well as pos- sessed of large private means, he was elected the first bishop of Maryland, and was consecrated in New York, 17 Sept., 1793, Bishop Seabury joining in the consecration. This is notable as being the first occasion on which a bishop was consecrated in the United States. In 1800 Bishop Claggett was chaplain to the U. S. senate, this being the first ses- sion of congress held in Washington city. In 1808 he became rector of Trinity church. Upper Marl- borough, and held that place during the rest of his life. An assistant bishop was appointed in 1814. He published a few sermons, pastoral letters, and addresses to his convention.


CLAIBORNE, Ferdinand Leigh, soldier, b. in Sussex county, Va., in 1772 : d. in Natchez, Miss., in 1815. He entered the military service of the United States as ensign of infantry in 1793, be- coming lieutenant in 1794 and captain in 1799. This office he resigned in 1802, and became briga- dier-general of the militia in Mississippi, 5 Feb., 1811, and later commanded a regiment of volun- teers from that territory. In 1813 he was made brigadier-general of U. S. volunteers, and com- manded in the engagement with the Creek Indians at the Holy Ground in December, 1813. He then settled in Mississippi, and on 4 Feb., 1815, became legislative councillor, later presiding over the delib- erations of the legislature. — His brother, William Charles Cole, senator, b. in Sussex county, Va., in 1775; d. in New Orleans, La., 28 Nov., 1817, re- ceived a liberal education and studied law. After being ad- mitted to the bar, he settled in Nashville, Tenn., where he followed his profession. He soon received the appoint- ment of territo- rial judge, and assisted in fra- ming the state constitution in 1796. During the following

year he was

elected as a democrat to congress, and served from 23 March, 1797, till 3 March,l801. In 1802 he was appointed governor of Mississippi, and in 1803 be- came a commissioner, with Gen. James Wilkinson, to take possession of Louisiana when it was pur- chased from France. After the establishment of the new government, in 1804, he was made governor, and when that province became a state he was elect- ed by the people to the same office. He was chosen as a democrat to be U. S. senator from the new state, but died before he was able to take his seat. — Another brother, Nathaniel Herbert, politi- cian, b. in Sussex county, Va., 14 Nov., 1777; d. in Franklin county, Va., 15 Aug., 1859, received a clas- sical education, and for many years served variously in both branches of the state legislature, where he achieved a reputation as a reformer of extrava- gance and abuses of the government. Later he became a member of the executive council, and in 1825 was sent to congress, where, with subsequent re-elections, he served continuously from 5 Dec, 1825, till 3 March, 1837. He was the author of " Notes on the War in the South " (Richmond, 1819). — John Francis Hamtramck, son of Ferdi- nand Leigh, lawver, b. in Natchez, Miss., 24 April, 1809 ; d. there, 17 May, 1884. At the age of four- teen he was sent to relations in Virginia to be edu- cated, and later entered the law-office of Benjamin Watkins Leigh, but failing health compelled his return to Natchez, where he continued his law studies. Subsequently he was admitted to the bar in Vii-ginia, and, as he was about to begin practice in Natchez, he was induced to assume editorial control of a journal then published by Col. Andrew Marschalk. This step led him into politics, and before he had attained his majority he was chosen a member of the state legislature, and was twice re-elected. Mr. Claiborne then settled in Madison county, and was nominated for congress by accla- mation in the first State democratic convention ever held in Mississippi. A hotly contested can- vass ensued, after which Claiborne was elected, and served from 7 Dec, 1835, till 31 Jan., 1838. Dur- ing his second term his election was contested, a new election was called for, and his opponent was successful. This was due to a misunderstanding which had arisen in consequence of his election for a special session being regarded by his friends as for the entire term, and hence not voting at all. Mr. Claiborne then turned his attention to journalism, and became editor of the Natchez " Fair-Trader." In 1844 he removed to New Orleans, where he edit- ed successively the " Jeffersonian," the " States- man," and afterward the " Louisiana Courier." On the election of President Pierce he received the appointment of U. S. timber agent for Louisiana and Mississippi. Later he resided at his planta- tion, " Dunbarton," in the vicinity of Natchez, where, in possession of abundant fortune, he de- voted his time principally to literary pursuits. He published, besides many magazine articles, " Life and Correspondence of Gen. John A. Quitman " (2 vols., New York, 1860) ; " Life and Times of Gen. Sam. Dale " (1860) ; and " Mississippi as a Prov- ince, a Territory, and a State " (Jackson, 1880).


CLAIBORNE, Joint Herbert, physician, b. in Brunswick county, Va., 16 March, 1828. He was graduated at the University of Virginia in 1849, and at the Jefferson medical college in 1850, after which for a year he was connected with hospitals in Phil- adelphia. In 1851 he settled in Petersburg, Va., and there practised until 1861. In 1857 he was a member of the Virginia senate. During the civil war he was a surgeon in the Confederate army, and in 1862 organized the general hospital in Peters- burg, of which he became chief executive officer. He is member of several medical societies, has held the office of vice-president of the Virginia state medical society, and of the Confederate states army and navy medical association. Of late years he has made a specialty of diseases of women and chil- dren, and his published articles in medical journals are principally on these subjects. He has pub- lished essays on " Diphtheria " and " Dysmenor- rhea," and a volume of " Clinical Reports from Private Practice " (1873).


CLAIBORNE, or CLAYBORNE, William, colonist, known as "The Evil Genius of IMaryland," b. in Westmoreland, England, about 1589; d. in Virginia about 1676. He was a younger son of a distinguished Westmoreland family, and in 1621 was appointed surveyor of the plantations of Virginia, under the London company. He arrived at