American statesman, born in Newbern, NC, on the 12th of April 1795; died at Raleigh, NC, on the 11th of May 1866; graduated at Yale in 1813; from 1816 to 1820 was a member of the legislature; from 1820 to 1825 was judge of the North Carolina superior court at Raleigh; in 1841 was appointed Secretary of the Navy, but resigned the same year, giving as his reason the vetoing of the bill to recharter the United States Bank; was elected United States Senator in 1846, holding the position until 1854. He opposed secession in 1861.
