340
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
bis \v*II-known signal, using as a hammer
a great hickory cane with a spike in the end.
When expecting a party of fugitives, mes-
sengers were despatched along the line of
the underground road, to put all men on the
alert, and as the fugitives landed they were
spirited on to their sought-for haven. He
was over six feet high, and a man of great
strength. He died February lo, 1890.
Irvin, William W., born in Albemarle county, Virginia, in 1778, son of Rev. Wil- liam Irv'in, a Presbyterian minister, and Elizabeth Holt, his wife. He studied law rnd after admission to the bar located in Lancaster. Ohio. He held various local offices — member of the state general assem- bly, 1806-08; justice of the state supreme court. 1808-15; representative in the state general assembly. 1825-28, and served as speaker, 1825-26 ; elected as -a Democrat to the twenty-first and twenty-second con- gresses (March 4, !829-March 3, 1833) ; de- feated for re-election to the twenty-third congress. He died in Lancaster, Ohio, April 19, 1842.
Page, Hugh Nelson, was born at ** North End," Gloucester (now Mathews) county, \'irginia. in September, 1788, youngest child of John Page, of Caroline county, Virginia, and Elizabeth (called Betty) Burwell, his wife. In September, 181 1, he entered the United States navy as midshipman. In June, 1812, he was ordered to the gunboat squadron at Norfolk, Virginia, stationed there for harbor protection. In August of the same year he was assigned to Commo- dore Chauncey's squadron on Lake Ontario. Later, when volunteers were called for to serve under Commodore Perry, on Lake Erie, he proferred his services, and was
placed on duty under Lieut. Calkin, on the
schooner Tigress, He behaved with gal-
lantry in the famous battle of Lake Erie,
and was wounded in the hand. He was
placed in charge of the prisoners taken, and
had the distinguished honor of bearing to
Gen. Harrison, who was posted at the mouth
ot the Sandusky river. Commodore Perry's
immortal message, "We have met the
enemy, and they are ours." For his con-
duct in the engagement, Page was presented
with two beautiful swords— one from the
United States congress, and one from the
state of \'irginia. Ordered to the Siaijara,
he aided in conveying Gen. Harrison's army
to Maiden, to attack the British general
Proctor, who, however, retreated before the
arrival of the fleet. In 1814, Page served
under Commodore Sinclair in the expedition
to Detroit, to convey Maj. Crogan's troops
to Mackinaw, and where Crogan was de-
feated, his men again going aboard the ships
of the fleet. Page served in the subsequent
operations — the destruction of a British fort
on the Saginaw river, and the winterquarter-
iiig at Erie. He was then given leave of
absence for three years, and in 1818 was
made lieutenant, and assigned to the John
Adants, the flagship of Commodore Perry,
under whom he sailed to South .\merica,
and an incident of this voyage was the death
of Commodore Perry, during a stay at
Trinidad. In 1834, Lieut. Page, in command
of the Boxer, conveyed the United States
ehargc d'affaires to Valparaiso, Chile. In
1838 he was promoted to commander. In
1843 ^^ was ordered to the Lez*an!, and con-
veyed Hon. Henry .A. Wise. L'nited States
minister to Brazil, from Norfolk, Vir-
ginia, to Rio. Thereafter Commander Page
crui.-ed in the Pacific until the breaking
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