PROMINENT PERSONS
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army. He lived in obscurity until 1785,
when he was appointed a commissioner to
treat with Indian tribes. In 1786 he again
acted as United States commissioner, ne-
gotiating a Treaty with the Shawnees. Later
in that year he commanded a campaign
against the Indian tribes on the Wabash,
but it proved a failure, and he was unjust-
ly censured by Virginia and congress. Mor-
tified by his treatment and neglect Gen.
Clark accepted a commission from the
French government of '*major-general in
the armies of France and commander-in-
chief of the French revolutionary legion on
the Mississippi river." He was to lead a
force of two thousand men against New Or-
leans and the Spanish possessions on the
lower Mississippi with a view to revolu-
tionizing the Spanish control and govern-
ment of that region. This plan was never
carried out. In 1781 Gen. Clark was granted
8049 acres of land in Indiana for his ser-
vices in reducing the British posts. He re-
sided in Clarksville many years, living alone
in a log house, stricken with paralysis, ill,
helpless and poor. The general assembly
of Virginia, in a letter written by James
Barbour, dated Richmond, October 29, 181 1,
conveyed to him the intelligence that that
body had voted him an annuity of $400,
tendered him their earnest sympathy and
notified him of the act of assembly in
causing to be made a sword with appro-
priate devices, emblematic of his actions,
which with the annuity would be duly for-
warded to him. On receiving the letter he
said: "I am too old and infirm to ever use
a sword again, but I am glad that my old
mother state has not entirely forgotten me.
and I thank her for the honor." He died
a few vears later at the home of his sister,
Mrs. Lucy Croghan. In 1869 his remains
were removed to Cave Hill cemetery, Louis-
ville, Kentucky, and his grave marked with
a handsome monument. On February 25,
1S92. the anniversary of the capture of Fort
Sackville, a movement was inaugurated in
Indianapolis, Indiana, to raise a suitable
statue to his memory, and on February 25,
1^95, it was placed on its pedestal in Monu-
ment Place, Indianapolis.
Parker, William Harwar, of "Rock Spring," Westmoreland county, Virginia, born in 1752, son of Judge Richard Parker and Mary (Beale) Parker, his wife. He served with distinction in the revolutionary war; was an officer in the Virginia state navy, 1776-80; commanded the Tempest. He married Mary Sturman.
Porterficld, Robert, was born in Freder- ick county, Virginia, February 22, 1752, brother of Charles Porterfield (q. v.). He was appointed second lieutenant in the Eleventh Virginia Regiment, December 24, 1776; served in Col. Daniel Morgan's Com- pany through the campaigns of 1777-79; was promoted first lieutenant. June i. 1777; adjutant, .April 19. 1778: was transferred to the Seventh Virginia Regiment. September 14, 1778, and served as aide to Gen. William Woodford, 1778-79, taking part in the battles of Brandywinc, Germantown and Monmouth. He was promoted captain- lieutenant, July 2, 1779: captain. August 16, 1779, and in December, 1779, accompanied Gen. William Woodford to Charleston, South Carolina, where he took part in the defense of that city, and on its fall surren- dered as a prisoner of war. May 12. 1780. He was exchanged and transferred to the Second Virginia Regiment. February 2. 1781,
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